40 years. 2 Divisions. 1 Goal. Guaranteed Income. For Life.
The retirement industry looked a lot different 40 years ago, but one thing remains the same, Kurt Dietrich and his company continue to be recognized as pioneers. DIETRICH’s tenure in the industry has stood the test of time through a continuously changing economic environment. DIETRICH’s 40th anniversary in 2020 celebrates a long-standing tradition of serving the retirement plan community.
Launching in 1980 with two ambitious employees, DIETRICH has since grown to be recognized as a leading pension risk transfer specialist, providing insured institutional solutions to plan sponsors and their advisors. Now well equipped with a dedicated underwriting, marketing, administration and client relationship team, DIETRICH has assisted in guaranteeing over 800,000 retirees’ pensions, advising over 3,000 plan sponsors.
“Back when we started it was just an idea, a concept that made sense to us,” said Kurt Dietrich, President of DIETRICH. “As it turns out, the need was recognized and employers value retirement stability for their employees. 40 years later, here we are, evolving and changing with the market, and thankful to be known as the leader in our niche industry.”
Over the years, Mr. Dietrich has had the opportunity to form partnerships and sell the business. He prefers to keep the company closely held, ensuring it reflects the values important to him, helping employers and ultimately, employees take the uncertainty and guess work out of guaranteed income in retirement. DIETRICH’s goal continues to be focused on promoting the financial health of plan sponsors, the plans they manage and the participant retirements they support through education, objective advice and access to insured institutional solutions. When asked about his most notable experience over the last 40 years, “That’s easy.” Mr. Dietrich says, “The trust of employers and their employees to provide security in their golden years. You can’t ask for a higher honor.”
Keeping ahead of industry trends has always been a strength at DIETRICH. They were the first to develop the concept of utilizing group annuity contracts to fund specific retiree pension plan obligations for plan sponsors to transfer pension risk to insurance companies, originally known as pension carveouts or annuity buyouts. Another novel tool developed at DIETRICH, the first real time online annuity quoting system, DIETRICH Direct Quote which has been commended and replicated by numerous retirement industry heavy hitters. Long before the recently passed SECURE Act, DIETRICH recognized the absence of guaranteed income options in 401(k) plans and created a guaranteed retirement income option for defined contribution plans.
Launched by DIETRICH in Spring 2018, ANNUA is the firm’s Defined Contribution practice, uniquely positioned to offer innovative insured retirement income solutions to employers offering 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans.
“40 years is a proud accomplishment and we have another 40 plus years ahead of us. We are looking forward to this special occasion by hosting celebratory events and sponsoring industry education related conferences like the Plan Sponsor National Conference and the ASPPA Annual Conference” adds Dietrich, “Looking ahead to the future, DIETRICH and ANNUA have exciting and innovative concepts to share with the retirement industry, focusing on fostering relationships and most importantly, planning for a secure retirement.”
