Bay College Selects The Standard as Single 403(b) Plan Provider Single Vendor Service Model and Fiduciary Support Are among Key Reasons for Decision

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov 04, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Standard Retirement Services, Inc. ("The Standard"), a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:SFG) is pleased to announce it has been selected by Bay College of Michigan to become their single 403(b) plan provider. Bay College, located in the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan, is a two-year public college with a main campus in Escanaba and an additional location in Iron Mountain. The Bay College 403(b) plan includes 250 eligible participants.

"The single provider service model is beneficial to us in several ways," said Tom Griggs, Director of Human Resources for Bay College. "The Standard is able to obtain lower fund management costs by leveraging the total assets of our plan. In addition, they practice full fee transparency and offer full fiduciary support, which are critical to us in light of the new IRS 403(b) regulations that took effect at the beginning of this year." The Standard's investment selection and monitoring process and comprehensive participant education program were also cited as reasons for the decision.

The Standard was chosen following a comprehensive search process conducted by the Bay College pension committee. The committee also asked plan participants to take a survey, the results of which were incorporated into the decision-making process.

Scott Ciullo of PlanMember Services Corporation will assist with employee education for the plan.

The Standard has provided retirement plan services for more than 70 years.

Products are available on a full service or recordkeeping-only basis, through both a trust platform (available in all states) as well as a group annuity platform (available in all states except New York). For more information on The Standard's retirement services, visit www.standard.com or contact a Pension Consultant at 877.805.1127.

About The Standard StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries marketed as The Standard -- Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Investment Advisers, StanCorp Real Estate and StanCorp Equities -- is a leading provider of financial products and services. StanCorp's subsidiaries serve approximately 8.2 million customers nationwide as of September 30, 2009, with group and individual disability insurance, group life, AD&D, vision and dental insurance, retirement plans products and services, individual annuities and investment advice. For more information about The Standard, visit www.standard.com.

Disclosure StanCorp Equities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, distributes group annuity contracts issued by Standard Insurance Company and may provide other brokerage services.

Third party administrative services are provided by Standard Retirement Services, Inc. Investment advisory services are provided by StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., a registered investment advisor. StanCorp Equities, Inc., Standard Insurance Company, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., and StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc are subsidiaries of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and all are Oregon corporations.

SOURCE: The Standard CONTACT: StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. General Media Bob Speltz, Director, Public Affairs 971.321.3162 [e-mail] or Investor Relations and Financial Media Jeff Hallin, Assistant Vice President, Investor Relations 971.321.6127 [e-mail] Copyright Business Wire 2009 -0- KEYWORD: United States

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