Alliance Benefit Group Receives Industry Award

    PEORIA, IL, October 28, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alliance Benefit Group, LLC (ABG) received an Excellence in Communications award at the recent annual meeting for the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA). The RIIA annually selects what they deem as the communications materials, advertising and marketing initiatives that stand out across the retirement income industry.

ABG was named the winner of the Retail Retirement Income Communications Award sponsored by Investment News in the category of New Media. ABG earned the award for its submission of "Introducing a Smarter Way to Manage Your 401(k) Plan", a campaign to promote use of its SmartPlan Retirement Planning System.

"The winners demonstrate excellence and innovation in communications that make a real impact on consumers looking to our industry for guidance in creating a secure retirement," said RIIA member Clarence Edlund.

ABG's SmartPlan is an interactive video-based solution that guides plan participants through a complete plan enrollment or update process. It can also assist plan participants with determining retirement needs and goals and serve as a conduit for important plan information. This system, developed by vWise, Inc., has proven to increase plan participation and fulfill fiduciary duties, all while reducing the need for print communications and on-site meetings.

John Blossom, CEO of ABG of Illinois, said the award reflects ABG's belief in the system and where the industry is headed.

"SmartPlan is truly revolutionary in its scope and approach." said Blossom. "As part of our commitment to working closely with plan sponsors and participants to help them achieve their financial goals, we look to provide tools to promote positive outcomes for retirement plans. The interactive SmartPlan system provides an effective and cost efficient means to accomplish this."

Contact: John Blossom, CEO Alliance Benefit Group of Illinois, 800-242-2356

The Retirement Income Industry Association (www.riia-usa.org) is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by leading financial services companies, advisors and academics who wanted a focused approach to retirement income. Established in 2006, the RIIA's mission is to bring the industry together to create a forum for sharing the freshest outlooks, the most modern thinking, the latest research and education, and the newest advances in product development within the realm of retirement income.

Alliance Benefit Group, LLC (www.abgnational.com) is a national network of independently-owned retirement plan consulting, investment advisory, health and welfare consulting and benefits administration firms. Collectively, ABG serves retirement plans with a total of more than $12 billion of assets and nearly 400,000 plan participants.

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