Cbiz acquires Overland Park pension consulting firm

The Cottonwood Group of Overland Park has been sold to Cbiz for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Wednesday.

The Cottonwood Group has 15 employees at offices on College Boulevard and took in $3.1 million in revenue in the past year. It provides pension plan services for institutional pension plans, retirement funds, endowment funds and foundations.

Cbiz, one of the country’s biggest accounting and employee benefits companies, is based in Cleveland and has a large Kansas City operation on the Country Club Plaza.

Janet Thompson, a co-owner and the president of Cottonwood, said, “We’ve known Cbiz for years and have jointly served clients. We thought this was a good fit culturally and from a service delivery standpoint.”

For instance, she said, Cottonwood has actuarial expertise in retirement services, and Cbiz’s retirement services group in Kansas City does not have an actuarial arm.

Thompson said no changes in operations had been planned, so Cottonwood’s people and offices “are staying put for now.”

“We pride ourselves in providing our clients superior customer service,” Thompson said, “and now we will be able to offer the national resources necessary for them to compete in today’s markets.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Cbiz acquires Overland Park pension consulting firm."