July 16, 2008, Wayne, PA — The Diversified Services Group, Inc. (DSG) today announced the completion of a major syndicated research study, Capturing and Retaining Rollover Assets at the Retirement Inflexion Point™. The report includes findings of two separate, but complementary, research efforts: in-depth executive interviews of defined contribution retirement plan providers and retirement plan sponsors (employers).

The study, which successfully builds on DSG's 2004 effort, examines issues, opportunities and decisions from the perspectives of the employer and the retirement plan provider during an employee's transition to retirement. The primary purpose of the research is to provide important insights to firms seeking to improve their retention or acquisition of retirement plan assets when the plan participant reaches retirement and makes a decision on the placement of those assets.

Selected findings from the study include:

• Plan service providers are largely unsuccessful at retaining assets due to insufficient focus on the retention issue, the inability to reach the plan participant at the appropriate time, and to build a relationship with the participant prior to retirement.
• The majority of employers does not care whether or not their participants take assets out of the defined contribution plan at the time of retirement, however, more than 80% of participants from the companies interviewed, do in fact, take their assets at retirement.
• Education at the worksite continues to be focused almost exclusively on accumulation of assets rather than on how to create income from retirement assets.
• Plan services providers continue to miss the opportunity to aggregate all of a plan participant's assets at the point of retirement.

According to James Sholder, a DSG Principal of its Retirement Market Practice, "Since the majority of the firms we interviewed lost between $500 million and $4 billion of defined contribution plan assets last year, it is certainly valuable to explore the intricate interactions and relationships between the plan provider and the plan sponsor and what initiatives can be taken to retain a significant portion of these assets and client relationships.".

This study is part of an ongoing series of syndicated research reports about the 'Retirement Income Market' known as the RM^˛ Reports™. These reports focus on issues that firms face as they develop services, products and marketing initiatives to reach individuals prior, during, and after retirement.

About DSG: DSG's Retirement Practice provides consulting and research to the financial services industry with a focus on the Retirement Income Market, its trends, products, services, and delivery channels. DSG manages the Retirement Management Executive Forum, a select study group of senior executives from all segments of the financial services industry with primary responsibility for their firms' response to the burgeoning retirement market.

For further information, contact:

Borden Ayers, Principal

Ph: 610-989-1710, ext. 21
Fax: 610-989-1730
e-mail: BordenA@DSG-Network.com

Diversified Services Group, Inc.
303 W. Lancaster Avenue
Suite 2E
Wayne, PA 19087-3938

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