PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 40

PLAN PROFILE
A Life Cycle of Benefits
This sponsor provides for employees from their onboarding to their retiring
I
n September 2020, Greater New
York Mutual Insurance Co. engaged
Principal Financial Group to recordkeep
its 401(k) plan. There were two
reasons, says Chris McNulty, GNY
executive vice president, chief financial
officer and treasurer. First, Principal
had good availability of one-on-one
financial
training
for
participants.
Second, he thought it would be useful,
he says, for employees to see, in one
login, their pension plan, which was
with Principal, their 401(k) plan assets
and, for some, their nonqualified plan.
" We're proud of the pension plan,
which was started in 1945, " McNulty
says. GNY began as an association
for immigrants unable to purchase
insurance elsewhere and evolved
into a provider of insurance solutions
for
business
owners
and
property
managers. In recent years, the significance
of the pension plan has tended
to be forgotten, he says. " Afterall, for a
30-year-old, the pension plan benefits
are 35 years in the future. "
To build a broad benefits program that would attract and
Chris McNulty, executive vice president,
chief financial officer and treasurer
to their retirement, " McNulty says.
For starters, they offer student loan
the employee
reimbursement. After
makes the required loan payment, GNY
pays $100 a month toward the loan, up
to a $15,000 lifetime benefit. Sixty-six of
the 369 employees are getting a portion
of their loans thus repaid. " That's our
way of recognizing that, when people
start out, their income may be on the
lower side. They may be trying to move
out of their parents' home, rent an apartment
and pay loan debt, " McNulty says.
GNY also offers a comprehensive
health-care plan, he says. The plan does
not have a traditional high-deductible
option, but
instead requires modest
copays and, after out-of-pocket maximums
are reached, covers eligible
expenses at 100%. The company pays
a large percentage of the cost, he says.
" If new employees prefer to stay on their
parents' plan until age 26, we believe
we owe them a comprehensive plan to
transition to. "
Moreover, " We offer eight weeks of fully paid parental leave
retain employees in a later day, GNY turned to benefits consultant
Segal. Segal has helped the company consider ways to enhance its
total rewards program since the 1990s.
" We try to provide benefits for people, from their onboarding
SNAPSHOT
PLAN SPONSOR: GNY Insurance Cos., New York City
PLANS: 401(k), defined benefit plan
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 369
PARTICIPATION RATE: 98%
AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 11%
EMPLOYER MATCH: 50% of 6% deferral
TOTAL 401(K) PLAN ASSETS: $64mm
within a year of a birth or adoption. This is in addition to any shortterm
disability leave of absence, which is typically six weeks for a
pregnancy. So, we have fathers who take eight weeks of paid leave, "
McNulty says.
One hundred percent of GNY's full-time employees participate
in the pension plan. Only about 15% of private-sector
employees are covered by a traditional pension plan these days,
McNulty points out. " A key thing we try to impress upon people
is what a pension plan is. GNY takes the pension plan investment
risk, unlike with a 401(k) plan. If the markets don't cooperate and
we don't earn what we anticipate, we fund it further. "
But GNY also has a 401(k) plan. McNulty says GNY automatically
enrolls participants at 6% and automatically escalates their
deferral, up to 10%. " We think about the retirement benefit facet
being the traditional three-legged stool. Participants have Social
Security, a pension plan and personal savings. And we help with
the personal savings in two ways: with the 401(k) plan and the
student loan program, which enables participants to contribute
possibly more than 6% to the 401(k). " -Judy Faust Hartnett
40 PLANSPONSOR.COM April - May 2022
Art by Chris Buzelli
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022

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