How ASC came to be
Founded on Guam in 1990, ASC Trust Corporation (ASC) was launched when the regional economy was undergoing unprecedented growth in the private sector. However, there was no retirement system, other than Social Security, to support private sector employees.
In the late 1980s several companies tried to set up retirement plans using stateside companies to support their plans. However, they quickly found that working with a company on the other side of the International Date Line was taxing on their resources.
The founders of ASC believed that in order for retirement plans to be successful in the region, they needed to be supported locally. With this belief and a great amount of entrepreneurial spirit, ASC was established with the simple philosophy that the individual participant in our plans comes first in everything we do. Over the past 25 years, this simple philosophy has led ASC to create a wide selection of products and services.
ASC today
ASC Trust Corporation is the leader of retirement plan management in Micronesia. With offices in Guam, Saipan, Pohnpei and Manila, we manage in excess of 300 retirement plans, representing 20,000 participants and more than $500 million in assets. However, we do not do it alone.
When an employer hires ASC to manage their retirement plan, they get ASC’s local team providing unparalleled personal service, while having the peace of mind of knowing that ASC’s best-in-class alliance network is supported by world-class industry partners: Sungard, Raymond James and Fidelity Investments.
Along with our partners, ASC is committed to quality in everything we do. We communicate this to our employees, our clients and our community. This mission, coupled with our commitment to meeting the needs of our plan participants, forms the basis of everything we do!
Our Goal
Our goal is to revolutionize retirement plans in Micronesia by providing plan sponsors and participants with information, ideas and tools that help them make sense of the extraordinary range of financial products available today. ASC’s products and services are designed to help the plan sponsor and individual participants make better, more informed decisions.
Håfa Adai!
As ASC Trust Corporation celebrates our 25th Anniversary, I would like to say thank you to our clients, participants, team members and vendors for the confidence you have placed in our organization over the years. We would not be here today without you.
We have indeed come a long way from our two-person staff in 1990 to our team of more than 50 individuals in four offices throughout the region. When I look back on the last 25 years, I am overcome by a combination of being proud of what we have accomplished and thankful for the supporters who have gotten us here.
While a lot has changed, one thing that has not is our commitment to the region. As we enter the next chapter in our growth, we will continue to focus on our simple philosophy that participants in our plans come first in everything we do.
If you are an existing client, we look forward to working with you for years to come. If you are not currently a client, I hope as you read through this you will discover an organization that is committed to the regional community and want to become part of our movement to revolutionize retirement plans in Micronesia.
David J. John
President
ASC Trust Corporation
The Asia Pacific Group of Raymond James and its founding partners, Daniel A. Roland, managing director, investments and senior institutional consultant, and Jason B. Miyashita, senior vice president, investments and senior institutional consultant, would like to extend our warmest congratulations to ASC Trust Corporation on your 25th Anniversary celebration of doing business in Guam and the Asia Pacific region.
We are honored to be a key partner to ASC Trust Corporation in managing its investment asset allocations and investment managers in the various programs offered to its plan participants.
We wish you further good wishes and successes in your future endeavors in serving your clients on Guam and the Asia Pacific region.
We thank you for your support and partnership, and we look forward to overseeing the financial well-being of your clients for many generations to come.
Daniel A. Roland, CIMA®, AIF®
Managing Director, Investments
Senior Institutional Consultant
Jason B. Miyashita, CRPS®, AIFA®
Senior Vice President, Investments
Senior Institutional Consultant
Fidelity Investments is honored to recognize our client, ASC Trust Corporation, in helping retirement plan sponsors and participants achieve their financial goals. For 25 years, ASC has been a community-based and a community-minded company in Guam. ASC has been a client of Fidelity Investments since 2006 and has had strong growth over the years. ASC is over 9,000 miles away, but the 18-hour time difference has not detracted from our wonderful collaboration over this 25-year period of time.
We wish them continued success in growing their practice!
Stan L. Smith
Vice President
Fidelity Investments
Newport Beach, Calif.
Strong Partners
ASC strives to create partnerships with industry leaders with the same purpose and set of values that we maintain as a corporation. With this, we only select partners who are driven to be the best in the business without losing the focus of who we are working for: the individual participant in our plans.
Guam
“Pay-Less Markets has over 600 employees, and we have ASC managing our 401(k) and Cafeteria Plans. David John and the team at ASC have been quite responsive and timely in meeting the needs of our company and our employees. They have done a great job in educating our employees on the plans as well as keeping us up to date on the latest federal and local guidelines.”
Eloy Lizama
Controller
Pay-Less Markets Inc.
“IP&E Holdings LLC has partnered with ASC Trust Corporation since 2012. The ASC team’s attention to our group’s retirement planning needs has been timely, personal and has met expectations. Our employees appreciate that we can call on ASC to assist with planning for our future. We congratulate ASC Trust on their anniversary.”
Brian Bamba
Managing Director
IP&E Holdings LLC, which does business as IP&E Guam
Federated States of Micronesia
“The retirement program has grown tremendously in Micronesia because employees and employers value and are satisfied with the services of ASC Trust Corporation. Since 1987 government agencies have joined for at least three reasons:
1) Employee turnover is lower due to the employers’ contribution;
2) Employees now can save for their future to supplement the FSM Social Security benefit;
3) Employees can access their retirement funds at times of pressing financial need (depending on the plan).
Recently, ASC opened up an office in Pohnpei, which shows their commitment in providing valued services to FSM retirement plan participants.”
Mathias Lawrence
Chief Financial Officer and Retirement Program Plan Administrator
FSM Petroleum Corporation
Pohnpei
“The FSM Development Bank is proud to be part of the long list of pleased clientele of ASC
Trust Corporation ASC has helped and still is helping our staff save funds for their retirements and at times has been a source for the emergency needs of our employees. Our relationship started 12 years ago, and we are very happy with their services and advice. I want to thank David John and his staff for taking care of our retirement investments and for being there whenever they are needed.”
Anna Mendiola
President/Chief Executive Officer
FSM Development Bank
Pohnpei
Northern Mariana Islands
“A truly service-oriented company — that’s how I would describe ASC — through its Account Executive Gaby Bamba and her team. We began working with Gaby and her team in January 2012, and since then, we have been extremely impressed with their integrity, candor, technical competence and ability to complement our needs as plan administrators/sponsor. Furthermore, the sincere desire to help and the empathy ASC has shown to PIC Saipan’s plan participants within a week following the typhoon devastation in the CNMI certainly made a big difference — a simple, yet valuable, personal gesture and genuine care beyond just delivering an exceptional service that we have not experienced with other service providers. Over the years, ASC through Gaby demonstrates its commitment to keep adding more value to our business relationship with them.”
Nhing B. Reyes
Financial Controller
Executive in Charge – Human Resources
Pacific Islands Club Saipan
Palau
“Palau Pacific Resort is celebrating our 30th anniversary, and in 2014 we wanted to find a pension fund for our team. When we completed our research, we settled on ASC Trust Corporation because of their sales and marketing team, excellent customer service and returns to their customers. Palau Pacific Resort offers our very best wishes to the ASC management and staff on their terrific achievement. We look forward to a long and profitable relationship.”
Peter Bonini
Director of Human Resources
Palau Pacific Resort
Participants Come First
ASC is sustained by the faith that participants place in us. Their trust is built on our integrity and advocacy of their interests. If our endeavors do not improve the lot of individual participants, we will lose their trust and know that we have strayed from our purpose.
What employers need to know about retirement plans
A retirement plan is a savings plan sponsored by an employer. It lets workers save and invest a piece of their paycheck while employers typically make a matching contribution to the plan to help their workers save for retirement.
Most employers used to offer pension funds that were managed by the employer and paid out a steady income over the course of the retirement. But as the cost of funding and managing pension plans escalated, many employers terminated these Defined Benefit plans and started replacing them with Defined Contribution plans, most often a 401(k) plan.
401(k) plans, named for the section of the tax code that governs them, arose during the 1980s as a supplement to Defined Benefit Pension plans and allow employee contributions to be made before taxes and earnings to grow tax-deferred until withdrawn.
A good retirement plan is not a commodity. It is a goal that requires careful thought and planning. No two employers or participants are exactly alike, and for that reason ASC will design a retirement plan and provide the investments to fund that plan to meet your unique business model and goals.
Plan Design
We provide all prospective clients with a complimentary plan design discussion to help you understand the important considerations involved in establishing a retirement plan that matches your long-term business objectives, your workforce demographics, tax objectives and your retirement requirements. It is our deep understanding of all areas of retirement plans combined with a constant commitment to customer service that sets us apart.
Plan Administration
The recordkeeping function is a critical part of today’s retirement plan environment. ASC will manage all aspects of employee contributions, distributions and any other financial transactions that may occur. We will execute trades on a daily basis and will maintain both participant and plan sponsor websites for easy access to their retirement accounts.
If you would like to speak with someone in starting a retirement plan for your company, please contact Candy Okuhama at 988-8911 or [email protected].
Great Products
ASC’s products must surprise and delight our customers, greatly exceeding their expectations and raising standards over what has come before. To do this, our products must not be only innovative, but also reliable and of the highest quality. They must be marked by exemplary content, design and usability. What’s more, they must be accompanied by world-class support services.
