PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 4

Issue Intro
Teamwork
A
s one of the judges reviewing the hundreds
of nominations and entries for our Plan
Sponsor of the Year Awards, I have the pleaINSIGHT
ON PLAN DESIGN & INVESTMENT STRATEGY
APRIL-MAY 2019 | $29 | WWW.PLANSPONSOR.COM
DB Administration Survey
2019 Service Stars
sure to read and consider each nominee's story. The
2019 " class " of PLANSPONSOR Plan Sponsor of the
Year winners, and our two honorees, were announced
at the annual PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER
Awards Dinner extravaganza in New York, at the end
of March. Each of the winners was able to achieve high
metrics based on the confines of its industry, demographics
and type of plan. We introduced the finalists
to you in the last issue and, more in-depth, online. In
this issue, we are delighted to present the winners and their stories.
For instance, the employee base of Taylor Guitars-winner in the Corporate
PLAN SPONSOR
OF THE YEAR
Winners & Honorees
401(k) >$25mm - $50mm category-has an average age of less than 30, has only a
high school education and works on an hourly basis. Yet the plan has an 89.5%
participation rate with an average deferral rate of 7.7%, and the company matches
100% up to 5% of participant deferrals. General Health System-winner in the
Nonprofit DC <$250mm category-partners with a firm that allows employees to
get an advance on wages earned as an alternative to predatory payday lending firms,
plus it works with a student loan education platform to incentivize employees to pay
back loans, and stay with the company. Both voluntary benefits number among the
new and creative financial wellness and retirement savings tools we read about in
this year's entries. Profiles of all of the winners start on page 22.
It is retirement plan account representatives and relationship managers who
often support the success of plan sponsors. We acknowledge those hidden support
systems with our annual Service Star Award. This year, the PLANSPONSOR surveys
and research group choose six Individual and four Team Service Stars (page 58).
One of these Stars is Dave Parker, a relationship manager for The Standard,
who was nominated for PLANSPONSOR Service Star twice-once in 2015 and now
in 2019. Receiving two nominations was not a coincidence. I understood the high
grades his clients gave him, after I interviewed him, on both occasions, as well as
both of his plan sponsor nominators. Tom Nold, chief financial officer (CFO) of
Shelburne Farms, in Vermont, nominated him this year. According to Nold, " If this
was the Academy Awards, this would be more of a lifetime achievement award than
a Best Actor of 2019. It's been more about Dave being a continuous solid presence
than any one singular event. "
It has long been known that the defined benefit (DB) industry is in decline, but
future obligations span decades, so the need to service such plans remains. The 2019
PLANSPONSOR DB Administration Survey (page 48) informs sponsors of their
provider options and will help them maximize their current provider relationship.
With that said, we look forward to welcoming many of our Plan Sponsor of
the Year winners and finalists, as well as sponsors that nominated our Service Star
recipients, at the 2019 PLANSPONSOR National Conference, the first week of June
in Washington, D.C. We hope to see you there, as well-it's shaping up to be our
best annual conference yet! -Judy Faust Hartnett, Managing Editor
4 PLANSPONSOR.com April - May 2019
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alison Cooke Mintzer
alison.mintzer@issgovernance.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: SooJin Chun Buzelli, svp
soojin.buzelli@issgovernance.com
MANAGING EDITOR: Judy Faust Hartnett
judy.fausthartnett@issgovernance.com
MANAGING EDITOR, PLANSPONSOR.com:
Rebecca Moore, rebecca.moore@issgovernance.com
EDITORIAL STAFF: Lee Barney, John Manganaro,
Amanda Umpierrez, Karen Wittwer
CONTRIBUTORS: Louis Berney, Corie Hengst,
John Keefe, Judy Ward
SURVEYS AND RESEARCH: Quinn Keeler,
Brian O'Keefe, Jackie Scott
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Donna Bien-Aimé,
Alanna Jacobs, Clarissa Liu, Joy Liu,
Cherese Rambaldi
ART CONTRIBUTORS: Melinda Beck, Julie Benbassat,
Joseph Ciardiello, Sam D'Orazio, Jackie Ferrentino,
Nan Lee, Nick Little, Amy Matushita-Beal,
Suharu Ogawa, James Rajotte, Daniel Shaffer,
Blair Thornley
HEAD OF MEDIA SALES: Katie Bacon, vp
katie.bacon@issgovernance.com
ONLINE/DIGITAL PRODUCTS: Paul Zampitella, vp
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ADVERTISING SALES: Bill Murray, Lisa Reilly
SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER: Anthony Groccia
CONFERENCES: Carol Popkins, vp; Katie Campbell,
Rebecca Fahey, Melissa Groccia, Lucille Velander
GLOBAL CONTROLLER: Younes Ismael-Aguirre
younes.ismael-aguirre@issgovernance.com
ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS: Abeer Abu-Issa,
Mayrillane Bahi, Ruth Fissaha, Doreen Fucci,
Kristin Keeler, Ricky Kostik, Karen Kurtz,
Vivian Panton
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Justin Hoffman
TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS: Stephan Dennis,
Ray Lucibello, Aaron Montecalvo, Bhakti Patel,
Jigar Patel, Dexter Reaves, Stephen Widom
SPONSORED CONTENT AND AUDIENCE DATA:
Drew Donaldson, drew.donaldson@issgovernance.com
REPRINTS: Michelle Judkins
203-595-3276 michelle.judkins@issgovernance.com
CORPORATE OFFICES: 1055 Washington Blvd.,
Stamford, CT 06901-2218; 203-595-3200
PLANSPONSOR (ISSN 1077-1816) is published six
times per year by Institutional Shareholder Services
Inc (ISS). Periodicals postage paid at Stamford, CT,
and at additional mailing offices.
PLANSPONSOR is owned by ISS.
PRESIDENT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Gary Retelny
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Stephen Harvey
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Allen Heery
HEAD OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS AND
MARKETING: Nancy Adler
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
PLANSPONSOR, 1055 Washington Blvd.,
Stamford, CT 06901
REPRODUCTION POLICY: PLANSPONSOR, Vol. 27,
Number 1. No part of this publication may be
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