Pensionmark is pleased to welcome its newest affiliate, Meridien Benefits, Inc. (“Meridien”). 

Meridien is a leading provider of employee benefit plan consulting, investment and insurance services to plan sponsors of 401(k), 403(b), pension and other qualified retirement plans, as well as nonqualified executive and corporate benefit plans.

August 29, 2016 – Based in Providence, Rhode Island, Meridien has provided investment and insurance consulting to over 400 corporate clients throughout New England and has over $1 Billion in assets under advisement.

This Pensionmark relationship offers Meridien a truly independent home with the leverage, strength, and resources of a national consulting firm. This structure is paramount to the client-advisor relationship and will provide a full-service suite of deliverables to their Retirement Plan Clients. Meridien noted that Pensionmark’s position and preparedness for fiduciary rule compliance was critical and that their support on the employee-side will add great value by allowing them to provide enhanced solutions to Retirement Plan Participants by delivering a more comprehensive suite of services. The partnership complements the “Meridien University” custom education programs, and Meridien’s proprietary PLANScores® retirement plan evaluation and benchmarking
process and provides a national ERISA Fiduciary Solution for clients.

Founded in 1975, Meridien is a privately held and totally independent employee benefit consulting firm. Meridien is focused on providing investment platforms and insurance solutions to corporate clients in the areas of qualified retirement plans, and executive and corporate benefit plans. In addition to corporate benefit plan solutions, the organization also delivers unbiased and customized benefit plan consulting to corporations, affluent individuals and their families. Shareholders Vincent J. Passananti and Michael L. Balasco; along with Principals Ralph Coppola, David Radoccia, Mikko Passananti, and Alison Segall, as well as Windy Fino, Michelle Noon, Martha Tenkarian, Susan Cascone, Maria Carpentieri and Mark Geraigery, all welcome the opportunity to integrate the Pensionmark tools available through the Advisor Support Program (ASP) into Meridien’s array of services.

“Pensionmark offers us leading technology, enhanced tools, and excellent fiduciary solutions needed to better serve our clients. We are excited to work with the forty nationwide offices of Pensionmark, especially in sharing best practices that we can in turn provide to our retirement plan clients,” commented Michael L. Balasco, Principal and President of Meridien Financial Group, Inc.

“Pensionmark provides a national presence for Meridien and ‘value added’ servicing and technology for our clients. We have always been fiercely independent and continue to do so with our Pensionmark partnership,” added Vincent J. Passananti, CEO and Founder of Meridien Benefits, Inc.

“Meridien is a successful benefits consulting firm that brings capabilities well beyond their retirement plan practice by adding to Pensionmark an expertise in non-qualified executive plans and innovative insurance solutions. We are extremely pleased that Meridien has joined our national network as they represent an ideal firm for the Pensionmark family,” commented Troy Hammond, President & CEO of Pensionmark.

About the Pensionmark Advisor Support Program

Pensionmark’s Advisor Support Program provides its affiliates a full-service suite of deliverables and the groundwork needed to position their practices for long-term growth without losing the spirit of independence. In addition to benefiting from the size, strength, and relationships of a national consulting firm, customizable solutions allow the affiliate to select the support level that best suits their business model and client base. Pensionmark’s centralized service design provides time-tested reliability in investment analytics and due diligence monitoring, plan sponsor and participant employee education systems, compliance support, and preparedness of the DOL Fiduciary Rule.