ASPPA Becomes the American Retirement Association

After some 50 years of operations, the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) has taken a new name, the American Retirement Association (ARA), to reflect an expanding mission.

The ARA and its affiliated organizations represent more than 20,000 members across nearly all retirement industry professions—including actuaries, consultants and administrators, insurance professionals, financial advisers, accountants, attorneys and human resource (HR) managers.

The ARA’s roots extend back to the 1966 founding of the American Society of Pension Actuaries. Today its members work with retirement plans of all types, from traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans to 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457 plans.  

Brian Graff, executive director and CEO of the ARA, says membership has seen strong growth in recent years. “This new name and structure allows us to better acknowledge and represent the distinct perspectives of an expanding array of retirement plan professionals in a dynamic and complex legislative and regulatory environment,” he says.

Based in the Washington, D.C., area, the ARA is a nonprofit organization with the goals of educating retirement benefit professionals and “creating a framework of policy that gives every working American the ability to have a comfortable retirement.”

The organization is composed of four distinct retirement industry associations. These are the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA); the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA); the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA); and the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA).

As part of the launch of the American Retirement Association, a new logo and brand identity have also been developed for each of its member associations.