Strongpoint Partners Platform Grows with Addition of Hilde Minkel & Associates

CHICAGO, IL — October 8, 2026 – Strongpoint Partners ("Strongpoint"), a leading tech-enabled retirement services platform serving small- to mid-sized businesses with integrated retirement third-party administration, actuarial, recordkeeping, payroll, and HR solutions, announced a new partnership with Hilde Minkel & Associates ("HMA"), based in San Luis Obispo, California. Founded in 2010 by President Hilde Minkel, who has worked in retirement plan administration since 1981, HMA is an independent third-party administration firm serving more than 200 small to mid-sized clients across California's Central Coast. HMA joins Strongpoint as its 26th partner firm. 

"Hilde has spent 45 years in retirement plan administration, and today two of her children work alongside her," said Danny Hest, CEO of Strongpoint Partners. "That says something about the practice they've built. HMA's clients have stayed with the firm through every regulatory change since it opened, which is the hardest test of a small plan administrator. Adding their team strengthens our presence in California and gives the Central Coast a local administrator backed by a national platform." 

As a partner, HMA gains Strongpoint's technology platform, actuarial support, and a national network of retirement professionals, resources that are hard for a small firm to build on its own. Minkel continues as President, alongside Operations Manager Leesa Ryan and Participant Service Manager Max Minkel. 

"I have been in this industry since 1981, and I wanted a partner who would take care of what I have built here alongside my family and my team," said Hilde Minkel, President of Hilde Minkel & Associates. "Through our partnership with Strongpoint, our clients will keep the same people, and my team will keep their roles. What changes is the support that sits behind us: technology we would not have built on our own, and a network of administrators across the country to compare notes with. What I am most looking forward to is seeing what this team can do with access to Strongpoint's resources, and what that will mean for our clients." 

The HMA partnership represents another step toward the Strongpoint mission of making retirement work for everyone through access to new markets, expanded solutions and services, and depth of expertise. 

About Strongpoint Partners  

Strongpoint Partners is a tech-enabled retirement services platform serving small- to mid-sized businesses with integrated retirement third party administration, recordkeeping, payroll, actuarial, and HR solutions. Recognized as one of Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America and certified as a Great Place to Work for two consecutive years, Strongpoint offers a suite of services that prioritizes accuracy, compliance, and reduction of regulatory risk for its clients, delivered by local client success teams that understand the nuances of the markets they serve. With a coast-to-coast network of leading firms including HowardSimon, Jocelyn Pension Consulting, Retirement Strategies Group (“RSG”), Retirement Planners and Administrators (“RPA”), Pension Financial Services (“PFS”), Pollard & Associates, Carlson Quinn, SI GROUP, Retirement Planning Consulting Group (“RPCG”), Karel-Gordon & Associates, Cash Balance Actuaries (“CBA”), Pension Consultants, Inc. (“PCI”), Actuaries Unlimited (“AUI”), CRP – California Retirement Plans (“CRP”), Benefit Equity, Inc. (“BEI”), United Benefit Pensions, LLC (“UBP”), Associated Pension Consultants (“APC”), Creative Retirement Systems, LLC (“CRS”), Allied Consultants, Inc. (“ACI”), American Retirement Plan Services, LLC (“ARPS”), SMS Retirement (“SMS”), Bidwell Consulting Services, Inc. (“BCS”), Integrated Pension Design, Inc. (“IPD”), The Finway Group (“TFG”), Bates & Company (“BAC”), and Hilde Minkel & Associates (“HMA”). Strongpoint Partners combines a relentless passion for service and innovation with the experience and expertise required to make retirement work for everyone.

For more information, please visit: www.strongpointpartners.com. 

About Hilde Minkel & Associates 

Hilde Minkel & Associates is an independent third-party administration firm based in San Luis Obispo, California. Founded in 2010 by President Hilde Minkel, whose career in retirement plan administration began in 1981, HMA provides retirement plan administration, plan design, compliance support, and recordkeeping for more than 200 small to mid-sized clients, along with guidance for plan participants and beneficiaries. As a fee-only consulting firm, HMA does not sell investment products and remains independent of the investment platform.

For more information, please visit: www.hmapensions.com. 

About Shore Capital Partners  

Shore Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm with offices in Nashville, is an investor in lower middle market companies in the Healthcare, Food and Beverage, Business Services, Industrial, and Real Estate industries. Shore’s strategy is to support management partners to grow faster with less risk through access to capital, world-class board and operational resources, and unmatched networking, development, and shared learnings across the portfolio. From 2020-2026, Shore received recognition from Inc. Magazine as a 7x Top Founder Friendly Investor and by Pitchbook Research for leading U.S. Private Equity deal volume for the past 10 years, from 2016-2025. Shore targets investments in proven, successful private companies with superior management teams, stable cash flow, and significant potential to grow through industry consolidation and organic growth to generate value for shareholders. Shore has approximately $17 billion of assets under management and in additional investment platforms to which it provides business and operational consulting services.

For more information on these awards and investment platforms, please visit: www.shorecp.com.