PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2018 - 58

the benefit is for having one single experience
for the end employee. " Moorjani
describes one portal through which plan
sponsors and employees can engage with
Fidelity, one service team to handle most
of a client's-excluding stock plans'-
needs, one comprehensive view of benefits
accounts in real time, and one place
that lists actions participants can take.
In contrast, Credico describes
working with separate providers for
each benefit plan as, ideally, a " best of
breed " approach, from an administrative
perspective. " Many DC providers got out
of the DB business and the health and
welfare business because delivering those
services takes a different skill set, " she
says. " We would argue that plan sponsors
should find the best administration
solutions and then use a portal to integrate
the plans for participants. " Using
separate providers at the plan level does
not preclude participants from having
an integrated view, however, she says,
because for several years providers have
shared account information with each
other, to give participants a full-view
retirement picture.
To Moorjani, " The true benefit of integrated
plans is that participants get help
with decisions that drive better outcomes.
If we see a participant researching debt
consolidation on the Fidelity site, we can go
beyond and offer him a budget calculator
or specific content on the topic. We get to
know the individual and go to a personal
level in order to be more relevant to him. "
Another challenge in the bundled
environment can be what to do if the
strategy fails to work out, Credico says.
" If you don't like a provider and want to
find a new one, undoing an integrated
solution is very difficult. It's much easier
changing your DC provider than it is your
DB provider. " -Judy Faust Hartnett
Stock Plan Administration
F
or plan sponsors, finding the right
stock plan administration provider
can be both easy and difficult. On one
hand, the number of established providers-roughly
a dozen-is relatively small
compared with other benefits administration
markets. However, equity compensation/stock
plans can be very complex,
requiring technologies and expertise that
can be difficult to evaluate in the abstract.
Plan sponsors must clearly understand
the minor areas of differentiation found
among providers in the market.
For example, while many providers
appear to offer a similar collection of core
services, all but one responding to the
2018 Stock Plan Administration Survey
report using proprietary platforms for
plan administration and trade execution-meaning
each platform likely
delivers a unique collection of strengths
and limitations. Additionally, providers
may invest more or less than competitors
on improvements to their technologies
and tools, something, for example,
that can be seen in the range of mobile
services supported by each provider.
Participant servicing can also
present some subtle differences. While
all providers offer on-site education and
support, and most have " premium "
Industry Snapshot
Non-U.S.-based
stock plan
clients
39%
U.S.-based
stock plan
clients
61%
Total
stock plan
clients
>6,180
U.S. Clients, by Relationship
Full stock plan
outsourcing
45%
58 PLANSPONSOR.com April-May 2018
Partial outsourcing
(brokerage)
51%
Partial outsourcing
(administration)
4%
Non-U.S.-based
stock plan
participants
31%
U.S.-based
stock plan
participants
69%
online programs, call center hours may
vary, especially on weekends. Tracking
and reporting of multi-currency awards
also appears to be an area where some
differentiation exists.
Finally, plan sponsors may find
certain providers better matched than
others to particular strategic elements
of plan administration-e.g., being able
to support full or partial outsourcing
arrangements or to deliver the accounting
and financial reporting services critical to
stock plan administration.
In the end, minor areas of differentiation
can have a major impact on plan
sponsor satisfaction. -Brian O'Keefe
Methodology
PLANSPONSOR contacted leading providers
of stock plan administration services
in March and received a total of seven
responses by the survey deadline. The
questionnaire explored each provider's
experience and capabilities in servicing
both full and partially outsourced plans.
A summary of responses is included on
the facing page. All data presented are
as of December 31, 2017. For additional
information on survey results and/or to be
included in a future version of the guide,
please email surveys@strategic-i.com.
Total
stock plan
participants
9,581,957
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com
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