The Hartford to buy record-keeper

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced today that it is purchasing Boston-based Sun Life Retirement Services Inc. from the U.S. division of Sun Life Financial Inc., RSI. The Hartford said it will add $17 billion in retirement plan assets across 6,000 plans and 465,000 retirement plan participants to its business from this agreement. RSI, a record keeper that provides administrative services to defined contribution plans, was formerly known as MFS Retirement Services. The deal grows The Hartford’s retirement plan assets by nearly two-thirds to about $46 billion across more than 24,000 plans. The company will now serve 1.3 million participants. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008 and all of RSI’s more than 400 employees will be offered jobs with The Hartford, the company said in a statement. The Hartford intends to maintain RSI’s current sites in Boston and Phoenix. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. “This acquisition clearly boosts our retirement plans business, helping to accelerate growth, open new markets and better serve our customers,” said John Walters, president of The Hartford’s U.S. Wealth Management Group and co-COO of The Hartford’s life operations, in a statement. “In many ways just as important, this deal partners us with an organization recognized consistently for peerless customer service excellence.” Earlier this week, The Hartford announced it was purchasing TopNoggin, a Powell, Ohio-based defined benefit and administrative consulting firm. Through this acquisition, The Hartford gains access to TopNoggin’s proprietary technology that tackles data management, administration and benefit calculations.