PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 65

Teams
VALIC
Richard Counts helped a 403(b) plan consortium to
create a supplemental plan for K-12 school employees
CLIENT: CSD Retirement Trust
INDUSTRY: Education - K-12, preschool, day care
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: St. Louis, Missouri
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$100mm - $200mm/6,000
BIO: Richard Counts, vice president of business acquisition at VALIC
(now AIG Retirement Services), joined the company in June 2007.
He has 24 years' experience in the financial services industry and a
B.S. degree in economics. He works closely with his VALIC colleagues
to find the best solutions for the accounts he manages.
T
he Consortium of School Districts (CSD) retirement trust
was created to provide the best supplemental retirement
program-i.e., a 403(b) and a 457(b) plan-for K-12 school
employees in Missouri. Stephen Keyser, managing director of
the CSD Retirement Trust, says Richard Counts has been in his
role, supporting the program, since it launched in 2010. " He
and other colleagues and plan providers have worked with me
to grow the trust from zero to 51 school districts, $150 million
in plan assets and more than 6,100 participants, " Keyser says.
Such work required " a true partnership, " Keyser says,
noting that Counts, a vice president of business acquisition at
VALIC, acts like a partner with the trust, not merely a vendor
or service provider. " He has said that consortiums are the wave
of the future and are the best way to help participants, " Keyser
adds. For Counts' and CSD's joint efforts, " the VALIC leadership
has recognized the trust as a model for other states. "
Part of the trust's model is a focus on education. " Counts
works with the trust to provide education to help employees
have better retirement outcomes, " Keyser says. " We have
fielded some very focused and unique educational programs. "
Most of the participant education is delivered by financial
advisers out of VALIC's St. Louis or Kansas City, Missouri, offices.
As an example of Counts' service, Keyser says, if an adviser was
assigned to a school and the chemistry did not work, it took only a
call to Counts to receive a different adviser from the group.
Keyser also points to an initiative taken by Counts to reduce
fees for one of the trust's benefits. Participants are allowed to roll
out assets from their 403(b) or 457 plan to buy service credits,
which can accelerate accruals in the state's defined benefit (DB)
plan. " The 403(b) plan has heavy annuity use, and there are fees
to cash these assets out to buy service credits. One thing Counts
pursued with VALIC, and accomplished, is to eliminate fees to
roll money out for that purpose, " Keyser says.
" We're successful, and Richard and others who work with
the plan are why, " he adds. -RM
Wells Fargo
Jason McQueen, Mary Lou Scribner and Joyce
Thompson developed a creative custom communication
campaign targeting participants contributing below 10%
CLIENT: Regency Center Corp.
CLIENT INDUSTRY: Real estate - Management and development
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: Jacksonville, Florida
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$100mm - $200mm/428 participants
BIOS: Jason McQueen, an experienced account manager, previously
worked as a registered representative for Wells Fargo Advisors.
Mary Lou Scribner is a relationship manager and vice president at
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust. Joyce Thompson,
a Wells Fargo communications expert, helps plan sponsor clients
create custom participant outreach campaigns.
R
egency Centers Corp., in Jacksonville, Florida, has worked
with recordkeeper Wells Fargo for many years. According to
Reese Dowell, benefits and compensation manager for Regency
Centers, at the heart of this long-lasting relationship is the dedication
of the Wells Fargo service team, particularly Relationship
Manager and Vice President Mary Lou Scribner, Account Manager
Jason McQueen and Communications Manager Joyce Thompson.
Dowell points to a variety of the types of situations in which
the Wells Fargo team shines.
" Due to an acquisition in 2017, our Wells Fargo team
proactively helped us roll over fund balances from the acquired
employees' previous 401(k) plan to our plan, " Dowell recalls.
" Acquisitions can be cumbersome and time-consuming; however,
Wells Fargo made the transition flow smoothly and without fail as
proved during our 2017 plan year audit.
" Speaking of plan audits, " Dowell continues, " every year is
effortless, with requesting and receiving information and documentation
from Jason McQueen. "
Regency's plan committee dedicates time each year to meet
with Wells Fargo and Dixon Hughes Goodman, the 401(k) plan
audit team-along with Regency Centers' internal financial
reporting and payroll teams-to develop an annual audit plan.
When it comes to working on participant success, each year
the plan committee and the entire Wells Fargo team reviews
plan benchmarks and develops a targeted communication
campaign. Recently, Thompson created a custom communications
campaign targeting participants who defer less than 10%.
" As Regency is a real estate development corporation,
she used the tagline 'Retirement. Build It,' " Dowell explains.
" Joyce provided us with measurement reports showing us the
percentage of employees who took action after the targeted
program. This way of proactive and creative thinking helps us to
effortlessly manage and administer our plan. " -JM
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