Ascensus, a financial planning firm specializing in retirement plans, is leaving its Millstone office for a new location on Route 130. The online finance company was known as ExpertPlan before it was acquired by Pennsylvania-based Ascensus in 2012. The new location will be called “Ascensus” and will not use the old ExpertPlan name.
Roberta Hess, spokeswoman for Ascensus, said the company was planning on hiring more personnel after the move was complete.
ExpertPlan was founded by Winthrop Cody in 1999 in an incubator on South Broad Street in Trenton and later moved to Windsor Corporate Park where it eventually grew to more than 100 employees. Cody, who said he was a relative of Buffalo Bill Cody, was previously CIO at Copeland Companies, a retirement planning subsidiary of CitiGroup/Travelers. After leaving ExpertPlan, he went on to work for iGate, an India-based retirement planning company. He also served on the Cranbury Township Committee and was mayor in 2011.
ExpertPlan was early to capitalize on the Internet to offer financial services, and specialized in administering 401K plans for small to mid-sized companies. The company focused on providing web-enabled technology services. ExpertPlan did not sell directly to consumers, but rather partnered with investment houses, stockbrokers, and insurance companies to administer plans efficiently.
When it was acquired by Ascensus, based in Dresher, Pennsylvania. ExpertPlan was providing micro and small plan recordkeeping and administrative services for approximately 16,000 plans.
Shannon Kelly, above, became president of Ascensus retirement services, the division that was previously ExpertPlan, in 2014. She was previously vice president of client operations with Ascensus and was selected to oversee ExpertPlan in 2013 after the acquisition. Kelly joined Ascensus in 2001 after working for Fidelity Investments, Mellon Bank, and Prudential Securities in management roles. She has a bachelor’s in English from Rutgers and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Ascensus, 4B Cedar Brook Drive, Cranbury, 08512; 609-918-2500; fax, 609-918-1328. Shannon Kelly, president of retirement services. www.ascensus.com
