Frequently Asked Questions

Ascensus is committed to providing as much continuity as possible in your service model and maintaining the same high level of responsiveness and support you expect.

In line with our unique, phased approach to unification, we expect that the service model—like all aspects of our business—will continue to evolve over time. However, our primary goal is to continue to deliver the highest quality service to you and your participants, so any change that may take place in the future will be determined with your needs in mind and communicated in advance.

While the unified organization will be branded Ascensus, you will continue to see Newport in some parts of your experience following migration. For example, your service agreements will remain with Newport for now, so you will continue to see certain billing items including—but not limited to—invoices and fee disclosures that reference Newport.  

Yes. Fees as outlined in your current schedule will remain the same through migration.

As part of your migration to the Ascensus recordkeeping system, we’ve updated your service agreement to reflect new system features and align with standard Ascensus contract provisions. Some of the key changes include:

• Review timeline: You now have 30 days to review statements, reports, and/or other documentation.
• Implied consent: Without taking any action, you can provide direction to us by choosing not to respond to notices of proposed changes.
• Electronic communication and delivery: We may deliver notices to you electronically by posting messages on the sponsor website. We have also updated our terms for delivering information electronically to participants, to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.
• Errors: We may reimburse you for losses resulting from our error, not to exceed 12 months’ worth of fees. This limit does not apply to instances of gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud.
• IRA rollover provider: Ascensus Trust Company is now the plan’s automatic IRA rollover provider.

In addition to the above changes, we have made other updates to some standard contract terms, including those relating to fee processing and collection, handling of late payments, and payments upon termination of services. Other standard terms have been updated as well, including: those related to service continuity upon bankruptcy; handling of legal disputes and subpoenas; knowledge held by affiliates; data privacy, intellectual property, and insurance; and terminating and transferring services.

While we have outlined some of the key changes, it’s important that you review your service agreement to fully understand all terms and conditions. We are unable to accommodate any requests for changes to your agreement.

Yes. Your login credentials will remain the same and your current web experience will continue to serve as the digital framework moving forward, with ongoing enhancements over time. Once your plan has migrated, the website address will change from newportgroup.com to a different URL, but again, your login credentials will still work. We will let you know the new website address as your plan’s migration date approaches.

Yes. As we bring forward the best of each organization, some reports will remain the same, others will be enhanced, and new options will be added including a new, customizable, on-demand Plan Health Report. 

• Your Quarterly Valuation reporting will be generated as multiple reports instead of one package, with some posted to the plan dashboard reporting section and others through the Plan Administration reporting section. This Reporting Overview Guide makes it easy to find the reports you need.
• HRIS reporting schedules will be maintained. Other scheduled reports will need to be re-established.
• Ad-hoc reporting functionality is being sunset. Moving forward, we will continue to review reporting needs and move towards a more unified reporting experience.

Yes. Your financial advisor has been notified that your retirement plan will be migrated in November and we will continue to keep them—and you— informed along the way. We fully understand the value of working with the financial advisor of your choice on all aspects of your company’s retirement plan, and we are committed to keeping an open line of communication with both you and your financial advisor.

Ascensus will continue to calculate and report model portfolio performance post migration.  Note that the model performance data on statements and the website will be available from the month of the migration (i.e., 'Inception Date' of 11/1/2024). This date serves as the starting point for performance records, and data before this date cannot be retrieved.  We understand the importance of having access to comprehensive performance data, but historical allocation and fund changes to the model are not able to be carried over to the new platform. All model portfolio performance data will reflect performance from the month of migration onward.

There will be no significant change to your participants’ managed account experience, but the following items should be noted: 

• Fees will be assessed quarterly instead of monthly and will be based on average daily account balance versus end-of-month. 
• The My Forecast tool will now be available on the employee website. 
• To help ensure account security, participants with linked outside accounts will be prompted to re-establish these links post-migration. 

Please look for a service agreement amendment regarding the above fee changes.  

Participants have access to the participant migration website which includes helpful information, timeline milestones, and FAQs. Although the URL for the employee retirement plan website will change, the website functionality will essentially be the same. We are committed to making it easy for you to share what’s happening with your employees and answer any questions they may have. We'll also send an email to participants for whom we have email addresses on file in September, and continue to communicate with them via email as we get closer to migration.

Yes, participants will continue to access their accounts the same way they do today. Although the employee website URL will be updated at a later date, their existing login credentials will still work.

Available after migration, the READYSAVE™ mobile app offers a simple, streamlined, and supportive experience that is driven by data and backed by behavioral science to help participants make more informed decisions throughout their journey to retirement readiness. The app also has a Spanish language option. Participants will receive more information about downloading and using the app as soon as migration is complete. 

In addition to the READYSAVE^TM mobile app, participants will find Spanish and alternative language capabilities: 

• On the employee website – the dashboard will still be available in Spanish; transactional pages will not.   

• Through the call center – Spanish-speaking representatives and additional licensed and bonded language translation services are available. 
• On forms – all standard distribution forms are available in Spanish and posted to all plan websites. 

Yes. Data from January 1, 2021, forward will be securely carried over to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform. Statements from prior periods will continue to be available on the employee website.  

When requests can be made online, it is recommended participants leverage this web-based functionality for streamlined processing and expedited delivery options.   

Participants can also request distributions via a suite of Ascensus transaction forms available on the plan website. Distribution forms are classified by plan type and triggering event, and there is a section to include rollover instructions for Roth funds. Newport forms will be accepted for 60 days post-migration. 

As a result of SECURE 2.0 legislation, hardship requests can be self-certified via form or online. If your plan allows for hardship distributions, participants may now self-certify that their financial need qualifies as a hardship under the plan, and they will retain the supporting documentation to substantiate the reason for the hardship.  

After migration, all plan sponsors whose plans offer loans and their participants will be able to request a loan directly online. Loans initiated online will be displayed under pending transactions on the plan website for your review and/or approval. If participants prefer to request a loan with a form, they can model the loan online and print the form for plan sponsor approval. This approach improves accuracy and helps ensure smooth processing. If a participant does not have online access to their retirement account, they can reach out to Participant Services for assistance.

Post-migration, fees will no longer be pulled directly from SDBAs and the ability to initiate distributions directly from SDBAs will no longer be available. It will be the participant’s responsibility to have enough invested in the plan’s core funds to cover SDBA fees and any distributions. Participants will see two funds in the plan lineup for their SDBA: The “cash” fund is used for investment elections as well as transfers to and from the core funds. The “invest” fund shows the market value of all securities within the brokerage account. New contributions and/or rebalances that are initiated or scheduled by the participant will post directly into SDBA “cash.”

After migration, terminated participants may change their address by calling the Participant Service Center. Participants may also change their address at the time of a distribution by submitting the snap-on Contact Change form with the Separation from Service distribution form.  Note: There is a 14-day hold on distributions that are submitted with address changes.  

Participants can designate beneficiaries using the Online Beneficiary Designation function on the employee website, which will be available to all plans at time of migration. Because beneficiary data may have become outdated over time, Ascensus is taking this opportunity to help participants make sure their information is accurate. Ascensus has a robust online beneficiary user experience that captures some additional beneficiary election information. Following migration, participants will be prompted to revisit their online beneficiary elections to enter up-to-date information. 

Where applicable, participants will also be prompted to re-establish and update their investment election, auto-rebalance election, and/or auto-increase deferral election.