PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2018 - 74

the tech firm's 401(k) plan.
Working with the plan sponsor and
her colleagues, Schwab coordinated introducing
its My Retirement Progress (MRP)
tool with the tournament. " The MRP
allows participants to include outside
retirement assets and change contribution
rates to get a picture of what their savings
could look like at retirement, " the sponsor
explains. " As participants input data and
see results, they have the ability to take
action right away, such as increasing their
deferral rate or connecting with Schwab
for a personalized advice consultation. "
The effort required a six-month
commitment, from the initial conversations
through the rollout. Key to engaging
participants was to align the communications
about the plan and the tool with the
upcoming games. For example, Schwab
integrated the company's ping-pong
images and used a play on words in the
concept tagline: " Some moments come at
you fast-others like retirement are years
in the making. " Messages were delivered
through various media including several
of the employer's internal channels.
While on-site at the company during
the tournament, the Schwab team says,
it visited with almost 300 participants.
" And in the first month after, we saw a
total of 157 employees interact with the
MRP tool online; of those, 10% increased
their deferrals. " Since the promotion,
engagement with the MRP has continued
to increase, says the team, adding that the
tool will be central to ongoing communications
with the company.
The plan sponsor says the experiment
of combining the tournament and
the launch was " unique and very wellreceived.
Schwab created a strategy that got
the employees' attention, and it continued
to get their attention through themed giveaways
and its on-site presence. "
The rest of the tech company's
benefits team was so impressed by the
employee engagement, in fact, that
" they'll be using company events to
promote their programs going forward, "
the sponsor says.
74 PLANSPONSOR.com April-May 2018
Service Star Team
CUNA Mutual
Retirement Solutions
Dave Mohammed and Eric Swiggum
worked closely with a substitute
plan administrator to keep up
day-to-day maintenance
being mindful of the abilities of someone
green to the plan administrator role is not
new to them. " After a few conversations on
administrative issues, we were able to get a
sense for what she was comfortable doing
and tailored our approach from there. In
this case, it was about being accessible and
letting her know there wasn't anything
she would have to do alone, " he says.
" Most plan administrators wear many HR
[human resources] hats and are pulled in
many directions. That we can lighten that
load for them with experience and knowledge
is rewarding from a personal level. "
He says Sunmark's dedication, work
ethic and appreciation of its employees
Mohammed
Swiggum
CLIENT: Sunmark Federal
Credit Union (FCU)
CLIENT INDUSTRY: Credit union
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: Latham, New York
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS:
$25mm-$50mm/240
BIOS: David Mohammed, senior retirement
relationship manager for the team, joined
CUNA Mutual Group in 2013, having
worked in the retirement services industry
since 1998. Eric Swiggum, senior retirement
consultant, has been in the field for
over 25 years, since 1996 with CUNA.
BRITTNEY Campbell of Sunmark
Federal Credit Union (FCU) handles 99%
of the retirement plan's day-to-day duties.
So it was a challenge to her employer, last
year, when she took a leave of absence.
" My vice president took over my responsibilities
and was struggling with the dayto-day
plan maintenance, " she says.
The situation grew especially trying
when it led to a late plan audit. But, with
the help of CUNA Mutual Retirement
Solutions, the bank successfully navigated
the time of her leave. " The team performed
the audit and dealt with every request
almost immediately, up to the October 15th
deadline for the Form 5500, " Campbell
says. " [The team] was always there when
[my vice president] needed it. "
According to CUNA's Eric Swiggums,
Cashman
McCann
CLIENT: NC Total
Retirement Plans
CLIENT INDUSTRY:
Government/
Public works
CLIENT
HEADQUARTERS:
Raleigh, North Carolina
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$1b/250,000
BIOS: Ann Cashman joined Prudential in
1988, working primarily in client services
until 2000 when she moved to another
Quimby
make it easy for his group to do their jobs.
" The CUNA team is always a pleasure
to deal with, " Campbell says.
" Having a contact like that is a definite
retention tool, and we are beyond pleased
with their service. "
Service Star Team
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Ann Cashman, Michael McCann
and Jessica Quimby worked to
transition the client's 401(k) and 457
plans to an unbundled structure
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