Baden Expands Distribution Network

Baden Expands Distribution Network of Compliance Only TPA Solutions

Fort Wayne, Indianapolis-March 8, 2010--Baden Retirement Plan Services (Baden), an Ascensus® company, and one of the largest independent regional third party administrators (TPA) in the Midwest, is rolling out its services nationally through Ascensus' sales force of twelve Regional Vice Presidents (RVPs). The sales and marketing effort has been initiated by three RVPs whose territories cover sixteen Midwest states. These RVPs and their territories are:

• Anthony Bologna: Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
• Ted Samsel: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota
• Rob Shwab: Indiana, Kentucky , Ohio and West Virginia

With the support of Baden's compliance-only services, the RVPs can provide financial advisors and their clients with access to highly customized 401(k) and other retirement plan solutions including insurance products and mutual fund investment options. The RVPs will also continue to provide access to full-service retirement plan solutions through Ascensus' comprehensive suite of products.

According to Tom Ackmann, Baden's Vice President, "Since 1991, Baden's professionals have provided one-on-one service to their clients for all aspects of retirement plan implementation and ongoing administration. We look forward to increasing our existing client base in this expanded market area through our relationship with Ascensus and the added flexibility it affords."

About Baden Retirement Plan Services  Baden Retirement Plan Services, an Ascensus® company, is an award-winning independent third party administrator with clients throughout the United States, with its primary client base in the Midwest. Its teamwork approach, based on a cooperative effort between the company, financial advisors and plan sponsors, affords its clients the flexibility to select among the best-in-class products and services available in the retirement plan industry. Because Baden is not associated with any particular investment fund, and is not licensed to manage assets or provide financial advice, its fees are based on administration and compliance services provided. For more information, visit www.badenrps.com.

About Ascensus  With more than 30 years of industry experience, Ascensus provides high-quality solutions for every segment of the retirement marketplace.  Ascensus is a division of Crump Group, Inc., (CGI). CGI is a leading provider of retirement services as well as the largest and most diversified wholesale insurance distributor in the United States. As the nation's largest independent recordkeeper and administrator for retirement plans in the micro to large market segments and a leading provider of regulatory expertise, plan document services and participant enrollment support, Ascensus services over 27,000 defined contribution plans. The company's core capabilities encompass every component of a sophisticated retirement infrastructure, including administration, recordkeeping, ERISA consulting, compliance and sales support, trust and custody services, multilingual participant education programs, training and documentation. These solutions are offered with the open architecture investment capabilities that can be tailored to support the needs of institutional retirement plan providers, third party administrators, financial advisors and their clients. For more information, visit www.ascensus.com.