National Penn hopes acquisition will give it larger-company business. National Penn Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of Boyertown, Pa.-based National Penn Bancshares , has boosted its retirement services to businesses buying up Resources for Retirement, a retirement plan investment advisory firm based in Newtown, Pa.

Neither side would put a price-tag on the transaction, but, as Resources for Retirement is among the top 20 plan advisors in the U.S., it can’t have come cheap.

The money will have been well spent, however, if National Penn can figure how to make Resources for Retirement’s “reputation for providing superior service and results for businesses and organizations across the country” support its own business model.

As it happens, National Penn Capital Advisors’ senior v.p. Vaughn Landes is pretty sure it can. “Just as we will benefit from [Resources for Retirement’s] expertise as one of the best 401(k) consulting firms in the country, [its] clients will now have access to National Penn's wide range of wealth-management and banking services.”

Resources for Retirement will keep its name and operate as a division of National Penn Capital Advisors.

National Penn Bancshares had just shy of $5 billion in assets at the end of 2005. It has 78 branches throughout Pennsylvannia. Includiding some under the FirstService Bank, HomeTowne Heritage Bank, Nittany Bank and The Peoples Bank of Oxford –FWR

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