Pacific Life Helps Advisors Meet Small to Mid-Size 401(k) Plan Needs

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 7, 2013) - Financial advisors who want to build deeper relationships with owners of small to medium-size businesses have an industry-leading ally: Pacific Life Insurance Company. Through the company's Keystone 401(k) Program, Pacific Life provides a comprehensive array of education, products, and support that enable advisors to offer affordable, highly customizable defined contribution plan solutions for small to medium-size businesses.

This fall, Pacific Life is taking the Keystone 401(k) Program "on the road." The company will travel across the country to educate financial advisors on opportunities in the small-business 401(k) market by hosting several presentations that feature guest speakers. Topics will include the challenges faced by small and medium-size businesses that offer defined contribution plans, how the Keystone 401(k) Program addresses these challenges, and the comprehensive financial advisor and client support available from Pacific Life.

"There's never been a better time to offer 401(k) solutions to small businesses," says Christine Tucker, vice president of marketing, Pacific Life's Retirement Solutions Division. "Turbulent markets and heightened fee disclosure regulations have changed the playing field. Plan sponsors need an independent financial advisor's objectivity, investment insight, and support to navigate through it all."

Currently, the program's most popular investment options are the PL Portfolio Optimization Funds, which use a fund-of-funds structure. These five target-risk funds range from conservative to aggressive, providing participants with a turnkey approach to long-term portfolio diversification. Each has been certified as a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) option and can complement plans with an automatic enrollment feature. In fact, as of June 2013, an average of 65% of Keystone 401(k) plan participants were using the PL Portfolio Optimization Funds, with more than 90% of those plans offering the PL Portfolio Optimization Moderate Fund as a QDIA.

Financial advisors are encouraged to check with their broker/dealer for a nearby Keystone 401(k) Program meeting. More information also can be found at www.PacificLife.com.

About the Keystone 401(k) Program

For financial advisors and their clients, the major appeal of the Keystone 401(k) Program lies in its fee transparency, investment option flexibility, and dedicated service. All fees are determined before the plan is implemented. Investment options can be chosen from more than 1,000 funds. And the financial advisor is supported by an experienced Pacific Life team that includes the Retirement Plan Consultants group, field and internal consultative wholesalers, and the company's Advanced Marketing Group. Plan sponsors benefit from a program offered by a well-known industry leader and gain access to Pacific Life's high-quality service team.

There's also flexibility in the way plan sponsors want their plans administered. The Keystone 401(k) Program can be implemented unbundled, using the client's current third-party administrator (TPA), or bundled with the administrative services of Ascensus®. With more than 30 years of industry experience, Ascensus is the largest independent retirement plan services provider in the U.S. Ascensus partners with financial institutions to offer tailored solutions to meet the needs of financial professionals, employers, and individuals, and provides qualified retirement plan and IRA recordkeeping and administrative services to over 44,000 retirement plans and helps 3.2 million Americans save for retirement.

About Pacific Life

Offering insurance since 1868, Pacific Life provides a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit Pacific Life online at www.PacificLife.com.

Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of May 2013 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2013 FORTUNE 500® list.

You should carefully consider an investment's goals, risks, charges, strategies, and expenses. This and other information about Pacific Life Funds are in the prospectus available from your financial advisor or by calling (800) 722-2333, option 2. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

The scope of DALBAR's evaluations consists of those aspects of the requirements of ERISA Section 404(c)(5) that can reasonably be met by practices, procedures, and obligations of investment managers. DALBAR evaluations are intended to facilitate the duties of the responsible fiduciary and do not replace the requirements to prudently select and monitor plan investments, including QDIAs. This validation represents DALBAR's opinion as an independent expert and has not been endorsed or approved by any regulatory agency.

PL Portfolio Optimization Funds are offered by Pacific Life Funds. Pacific Life Funds are distributed by Pacific Select Distributors, Inc. (member FINRA & SIPC), a subsidiary of Pacific Life Insurance Company (Newport Beach, CA), and are available through licensed third-party broker/dealers.

Pacific Life offers the Keystone 401(k) Program. Ascensus provides administrative and recordkeeping services and is not a broker/dealer or investment advisor. The plan sponsor will contract directly with Ascensus for the applicable recordkeeping and administrative services based on services provided. Pacific Life and its affiliates are not affiliated with Ascensus and do not provide any employer-sponsored qualified plan administrative services and do not act in a fiduciary capacity for any plan.

Ascensus® and the Ascensus logo are registered trademarks of Ascensus, Inc.

Documents and/or Photos available for this release:

Through the company's Keystone 401(k) Program, Pacific Life provides a comprehensive array of education, products, and support that enable advisors to offer affordable, highly customizable defined contribution plan solutions for small to medium-size businesses.

To view supporting documents and/or photos, go to www.enr-corp.com/pressroom and enter Release ID: 362076