PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2020 - 30

AWARDS 2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Hugh Penney, Senior Director of
Compensation and Benefits, Yale
University
Chrissy Nardini, President,
American Metals Supply Co. Inc.
Cindy Zils, Director of Human
Resources, Fintech
Tim Madda, Chief Financial
Officer, Gonnella Baking Co.
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
PLAN: 403(b). Plan Assets: $6.75b. PARTICIPANTS: 28,736. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 100%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 12%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% match of 5%. RECORDKEEPER: TIAA.
ADVISER: Aon.
Yale University's 403(b) was never a multi-annuity provider
plan. " We were a client of TIAA in 1919, and it's the only
annuity provider we've had in our investment lineup, " says
Hugh Penney, senior director of compensation and benefits.
Yale has adopted all of the plan design features that aim to
provide employees with a secure retirement, including, last
year, a new lineup consisting of mutual funds, variable annuities
and a guaranteed annuity. It also built a custom qualified
default investment alternative (QDIA) using those investments.
The QDIA is a managed account with quarterly rebalancing
of custom portfolios that behaves like a target-date
fund. Penney says, " Employees and spouses stay in the plan
for the rest of their lives. " -RM
Corporate 401(k) <$25mm
American Metals Supply Co. Inc.
Springfield, Illinois
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $24.3mm. Participants: 110. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 92%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 6.3%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% match of 6%, plus possible profit sharing.
RECORDKEEPER: Fidelity Investments. ADVISER: UBS.
" Millionaire status " may seem like an impossible goal, but
at American Metals Supply Co. Inc., a metals distributor,
employees feel confident they can reach it, by retirement. Faced
with the challenge of a predominantly hourly workforce, the
company prioritizes helping these employees become millionaire
retirees by offering generous employer contributions. " It's
pretty unheard of these days, even in much larger companies
than ours ... so it's something we really have as a point of pride, "
President Chrissy Nardini says of the match and profit sharing.
To help participants accumulate savings, the sponsor does not
allow 401(k) plan loans. -Corie Hengst
30 PLANSPONSOR.COM April - May 2020
Fintech
Tampa, Florida
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $11.9mm. PARTICIPANTS: 146. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 88.7%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 10.6%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 10%. RECORDKEEPER: Empower Retirement.
ADVISER: Adcock Financial Group. THIRD-PARTY ADMINISTRATOR:
Florida Retirement Consultants.
As a tech company offering payment and invoice solutions for the
alcoholic beverage industry, Fintech implemented a process that
allows its employees to make changes to their retirement account
through their phone or computer. The goal was to reinvent the
company's 401(k) plan to reflect the culture of " Fintechers. " With
the help of its providers, Fintech enhanced plan administrative
technology and participant education, as well as reduced all plan
fees. In the past three years, the number of workers has doubled,
but the company maintains a generous match, as well as 100%
employer-paid health insurance for workers and their children,
plus a health savings account match. -CH
Gonnella Baking Co.
Schaumburg, Illinois
PLANS: 401(k); DB. PLAN ASSETS: $22.7mm. PARTICIPANTS: 502.
PARTICIPATION RATE: 88%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 6.1%.
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 3% safe harbor contribution, plus
possible profit sharing. RECORDKEEPER: Prudential. ADVISER:
Morgan Stanley.
Gonnella Baking Co. froze its defined benefit (DB) plan and
implemented a 401(k) in 2011. According to Chief Financial
Officer Timothy Madda, the company had certain goals in
mind: It wanted to provide a retirement benefit for all, with a
plan design that " mirrored, in some sense, the pension benefit, "
Madda says. It also aimed to minimize plan expenses, which it
accomplished by moving to a zero-revenue-sharing lineup, with
low-cost target-date funds as the qualified default investment
alternative. The average expense ratio was reduced by over 60
basis points (bps) and today is less than 15 bps. Further, Gonnella
prioritized educational sessions and provides communication
materials in both English and Spanish, as many of the participants
are hourly workers not fluent in English. -CH
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