Short Takes: First Data to Administer a New Citi 401(k)

First Data Investor Services Group said last week that it has been tapped to do record keeping and administration for a new 401(k) plan offered by Salomon Smith Barney Inc. and Citigroup's asset management arm.

The (k) Choice program includes portfolios from the Salomon Brothers Funds, the Smith Barney Funds, and the CitiFunds. Financial consultants at Salomon Smith Barney are signing up companies to use the product.

It takes several months to get the plans up and running, said Lynne Shapiro, a senior vice president of Salomon Smith Barney in the corporate retirement services area.

This is the first time Citigroup has used First Data for record keeping and administration, though the company has been the transfer agent for the Smith Barney Funds, a Citigroup spokeswoman said.

Citigroup does some record keeping in-house through Copeland Cos. and has relationships with several regional record keepers, Ms. Shapiro said. First Data Investor Services, a unit of First Data Corp. of Atlanta, is being sold to Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank Corp.

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