
STATE STREET RESEARCH ASSUMES ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR
SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME 401(k) PLAN
BOSTON, MA, April 19, 2001- State Street Research has assumed complete
responsibility for all administrative duties for the Supplemental Income
401(k) Plan. This Plan is the largest multi-union, collectively bargained
Taft-Hartley 401(k) Plan in the country and offers simple, systematic
pre-tax savings through payroll deductions for union members.
State Street Research has replaced Northwest Administrators as the
administrator of the Plan. The new structure provides participants and
employers with greater "ease-of-use" by facilitating access to accounts and
minimizing the response time for account inquiries. State Street Research
will also now accept Plan contributions directly, speeding up the process of
transferring money to participants' accounts. The firm's other
responsibilities include loan applications and distribution requests, as
well as loan repayments.
The original Supplemental Income 401(k) Plan was structured as a
three-tiered approach-State Street Research served as the investment
manager, Sutro & Company enrolled participants and Northwest Administrators
collected the contributions and transferred them to the plan.
"We will continue to provide participants in the Supplemental Income 401(k)
Plan with the superior service they have become accustomed to," said Kevin
Wilkins, Executive Vice President, Head of State Street Research Investment
Services. "By giving participants the information they need in the most
timely and efficient manner possible, we are showcasing our commitment to
continuous improvement."
"Employers and participants requested that the overall process become more
streamlined," said Ray Brown, Plan Investment Representative for Sutro &
Company. "By asking State Street Research to handle these additional
administrative duties, the process will speed up tremendously."
State Street Research has actively managed money for Taft-Hartley
Supplemental Income 401(k) Plan since January 1999. The Plan now has over
400 employers and in excess of 13,000 participants while continuing to grow.
State Street Research & Management Company, with a money management
history
dating back to 1924, is one of the nation's first investment management
organizations. The Boston-based firm is a subsidiary of MetLife, one of the
world's largest financial services companies. As of March 31, 2001, State
Street Research managed $48 billion in assets, of which over $31 billion
represented institutional clients and $17 billion represented mutual fund
and variable annuity portfolios. The firm manages money for 11 of the 15
largest U.S. corporate pension plans (as reported in the 2001 Money
Management Directory), union programs, public employee pension plans, mutual
funds for over 530,000 shareholder accounts, as well as individually managed
accounts for affluent investors. The firm's Web site address is
www.ssrfunds.com.