Summit Professional Networks, the parent of BenefitsPro.com, acquired Pension Data Resources Inc., known best in the industry by its PensionPlanet.com brand.

Founded in 1987, Pension Data provides Form 5500 pension/retirement plan data and information services to individual financial advisors and large financial institutions.

Summit also owns Judy Diamond Associates, a leading provider of retirement and health plan prospecting and analysis tools.

The company’s combined product portfolio, which includes Summit’s Retirement Plan Prospector and PDR’s ERISA Red Book Online, will offer solutions to every facet of the qualified retirement plan market, from prospecting to sales training to competitive analysis and strategic planning.

“The team at Pension Data Resources has built a very robust product set with great functionality and a long-standing history of enterprise services,” said Jeff Patterson, who oversees Summit’s Insurance and Benefits Networks and its retirement data business. “In addition to aggressively expanding our strength in the large enterprise segment of our business, this acquisition will enable us to bring expanded services to our individual customers as well.”

As part of the acquisition, Sam Sarcone, PDR’s founder and owner/principal, will join Summit as president of the PensionPlanet division of Judy Diamond Associates.

“I’m pleased to have Sam Sarcone join our organization. Sam has built PDR into a valued industry resource,” Patterson said. “He is a respected expert in this field and has helped many companies grow their retirement plan businesses. His expertise and sales practice consultation will be a valuable addition for our customers.”