Pioneer Bank acquires benefits firm

COLONIE, N.Y. » Pioneer Bank has launched Pioneer Benefits Consulting with its recent acquisition of The Capital Region Strategic Employee Benefit Services of Latham, a part of Northwestern Mutual–Latham.

Pioneer Benefits Consulting will be handling all employee benefit client relationships and transferring five employee benefits experts to Pioneer Bank’s headquarters on Albany-Shaker Road. The team is headed by Cristina Tronco, who has nearly two decades of experience in the employee benefits industry, nine of them with SEBS.

“The launch of Pioneer Benefits Consulting continues our bank’s strategic growth and expands our commitment to providing solutions and services to our existing and future customers in the greater Capital Region,” said Pioneer Bank President and CEO Tom Amell. “Capital Region Strategic Employee Benefits Services is a respected leader in the employee benefits industry, and we are extremely pleased to add the decades of experience on their team to the Pioneer family.”

Capital Region Strategic Employee Benefits Services is an independently owned and operated local company that participates in Northwestern Mutual’s Strategic Employee Benefits Services program. The firm provides employee benefits exclusively through the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, offering a wide range of customized employee benefit programs including, but not limited to, medical insurance and disability protection.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to continue to build on the standard of excellence Capital Region Strategic Employee Benefits Service has earned since 1993,” Tronco added. “Existing clients of SEBS will see no interruption or change to the benefits or services they already receive; this will be a seamless transition that will be beneficial to our team members and our clients alike.”

The acquisition continues Pioneer’s plan to expand the services it offers and comes a year after it acquired Anchor Agency Inc., an Albany insurance agency with a more than a half-century of experience in the Capital Region, in order to provide personal and commercial insurance, as well as various group and individual benefits. The deal was preceded by the formation of Pioneer Wealth Management, which offers retirement, estate and succession planning.