PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2018 - 28

boosted from 1% to 2% a year, up to a 10%
ceiling. The plan applied auto-escalation
to all active participants, not just new
hires. There has been little blowback from
amping up auto-features: Since 2016,
95% of new employees have accepted the
plan's automatic actions.
A year ago January, the plan
re-enrolled participants who were deferring
0% to 3%, up to the 4% default. Of
43 employees re-enrolled, just seven opted
out. The company held town-hall-style
meetings on the re-enrollment and other
plan-design changes, explaining its motivation
and how the changes would work.
Keeping It Interesting
Education also plays a big role in
Hendrick Motorsports' efforts to improve
plan health. The employer and Compass
Financial have an annual education plan
that plots out what participant education
they will do each year, says Kathleen
Kelly, managing partner at Compass in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
This year's schedule for general
education that might interest anyone in
the work force includes plans for three
lunch-and-learn sessions. One will center
on how employees can manage their
current financial priorities while also
saving for retirement. Another, focused on
employees taking control of their finances,
will talk about how to keep a budget and
avoid overspending. A third will look at
" real-life retirement, " as Kelly calls it, and
how that differs, today, from retirement for
previous generations.
The catered lunches-another
Hendrick Motorsports employee perk,
as Kelly says-attracted 30 of the 600
total employees to a session last October
and 60 to one in November, for instance.
Employees also have the option to meet
one-on-one with Compass when the
advisory firm goes on-site, which it
did on nine days last year. During that
time, Compass met with 115 Hendrick
Motorsports participants.
The annual education plan also
includes targeted education aimed at
28 PLANSPONSOR.com April-May 2018
specific employee groups. In the past,
for example, Hendrick Motorsports has
sponsored dinners on topics of interest to
pre-retirees and has invited employees in
that age range and their spouses to attend.
At press time, the employer and Compass
were putting together a spring panel
session intended for pre-retiree workers.
" This will be a panel of current employees
talking about their own planning for
retirement: what's worked for them, and
what hasn't, " Kelly says. "
'We're Competitive by Nature'
After extensive education from both
recordkeeper Wells Fargo and Compass,
participation by mid last year had reached
93.2%-exceeding the sponsor's 90%
goal; 56.03% of active participants were
contributing 10% or more; and 90.69%
were adequately diversified-i.e., in a
diversified investment solution, or in
two or more equity classes and at least
one fixed-income fund. The percentage
of employees meeting behavioral economist
Shlomo Benartzi's 90-10-90 benchmark
goals had risen to the point that
the " overall Plan Health Index, " a Wells
Fargo measuring tool, for Hendrick stood
at 45.78% by last June 30, compared with
17.74% at year-end 2013.
What percentage of overall health
would constitute " success " for the plan?
" I'm not sure, " Lampe says. " I tend to look
at the component scores that make up the
index. I want to see each of the components
above 75%. We are focused on each
of the pieces. If we do that, the total will
take care of itself. "
Hendrick Motorsports continues
watching emerging trends and best practices
for 401(k) plans, Masterson says. The
sponsor currently has amendments in the
works. It wants to up the auto-enrollment
default deferral rate from 4% to 6% and
the auto-increase cap from 10% to 14%.
The leading edge of being a 401(k)
plan sponsor " is something that's everchanging,
and we need to make sure
we're doing what we can, " Masterson says.
" Being a racing team, we're competitive
by nature. "
Five years of focusing on 401(k) plan
health and employees' long-term financial
health has left a lasting impression
on the company, Kelly says. " It wants its
employees to 'win' at retirement. "
-Judy Ward
Corporate >$50mm - $100mm Finalists
Enterprise Bank Lowell, Massachusetts
Enterprise Bank approached its decision to change recordkeepers last year as being an
opportunity to assess its plan overall-but also to gain a more robust technology platform
whereby to give participants tools and education to help them save for retirement and
enable plan administrators to better use participant and plan data to support these saving
efforts. The plan sponsor revisited plan investments and moved to lower-fee share classes.
Further, to increase fee transparency, the plan shifted to an explicit recordkeeping fee and,
in response to employee feedback, expanded distribution options for retirees.
Survice Engineering Company Belcamp, Maryland
Despite conventional efforts to educate participants to defer more and invest properly,
Survice Engineering Company was dissatisfied with the results. So, last year, it " took
the plunge " and performed two 401(k) re-enrollments. The first, for plan participation,
defaulted employees into the plan at 6%. The second reallocated investments; the company
preceded this with careful education to ensure participants knew they could opt out-that
they were still in control of their own savings.
Read the full finalist profiles on plansponsor.com/PSOY2018.

http://www.plansponsor.com/PSOY2018 http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com

PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2018

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