BenefitStreet Begins Shedding TPAs

San Ramon, California-based BenefitStreet, Inc. announced that it has completed the sale of its Oakland, California-based subsidiary WESPAC, a third party administrator (TPA) it acquired in 2006.

“The sale of WESPAC is a key step in our efforts to streamline the BenefitStreet organization and refocus on what we do best – DC recordkeeping,” said Jerry Bramlett, BenefitStreet’s President and CEO (see  Bramlett to Lead BenefitStreet ).

The original owners of WESPAC, Nelson and Renee Chia, purchased the group back from BenefitStreet. “WESPAC remains positioned to continue its growth in the retirement plan space,” said WESPAC CEO Nelson Chia, who added that his firm will work closely with Charles Schwab regarding future business development efforts.   Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Other Discussions

BenefitStreet also owns several other TPAs and is in various stages of discussion with a number of interested parties regarding the sale of those organizations.

“In addition to supporting a focus on our core,” added Bramlett, “the sale of our TPAs will eliminate the competitive position we’ve established with third party administrators across the country. By removing that conflict, we expect to establish key relationships with many independent TPAs and enhance our distribution through that channel considerably.”