PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 18

2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR WINNERS
Public Defined Contribution (DC)
University System of Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
N
ow that the University System of Georgia
(USG) has finished a major modernization
of its retirement benefits, it has
moved on to its next big challenge: convincing
employees to voluntarily defer earnings
to a defined contribution (DC) plan-even
if they start with a modest rate. " That is our
focus for this year, " says Lisa Joe, director of
retirement programs and services for USG.
Last year, the 78 voluntary plans merged
into one systemwide 403(b) plan and one
457(b) plan. USG consolidated the number of
recordkeepers from 13 to three, simplified and
tiered the investment menu, and reduced participant
fees by $7 million while also increasing
transparency.
The Change Process
When Joe joined USG, in 2014, she inherited
that complex setup. Among the many plans
were hundreds of investment options.
Joe says, " The plans had different features,
so participants often didn't know what they could
and couldn't do. " The array of options likely
dissuaded some employees from participating,
Joe says. So she and her colleagues spent several
years getting buy-in for sweeping changes from
a large group of stakeholders, ranging from the
president and human resources (HR) departments
to the state legislature.
After the plan consolidation, last May, the
new online-enrollment process went live, two
months later. " When we got close to the actual
consolidation, we did our 'implementation roadshow,'
and went to 42 USG locations and did
seminars, " Joe says.
The $7 million in participant fee savings
comes both from consolidating recordkeepers
and investment changes, says USG Retirement
Plan Manager Jason Culp. " We looked at all
of the funds in terms of their share class and
looked for where we could transfer into a lowerfee
class, " he says of the investment shifts.
The system also implemented an
18 PLANSPONSOR.COM August - September 2020
asset-based, explicit participant administrative
fee and eliminated all use of revenue sharing.
USG did an analysis of how a flat fee vs. an
asset-based fee would affect participants and
focused especially on the more than 50% who
have a balance between $25,000 and $75,000.
" We wanted to make this as equitable as we
could, " Culp says.
Focusing on Deferrals
The effort to encourage higher voluntary
deferrals began during the communications
campaign for the modernization project, in
2018. When new hires enter the USG system,
they choose between mandatory participation in
a defined benefit (DB) plan or a 401(a) defined
contribution plan. Employees also may save
voluntarily in the 403(b) or 457(b) plan.
Both the defined benefit plan and 401(a)
plan require employees to defer 6% of pay,
which Joe says discourages them from saving
more voluntarily in the 403(b) or 457 plan. She
would ideally like to see employees save 18%
to 20% annually, including both their and the
employer's contributions.
" The communications campaign went
beyond explaining the modernization project,
to encourage more voluntary saving, " says
Carolyn Dower, a Tampa, Florida-based senior
relationship manager at USG's lead recordkeeper
TIAA. The recordkeeper collaborated
with USG in a multichannel communications
campaign, and TIAA rolled out a new online
participant portal that, among other things,
simplifies enrolling in the voluntary plans.
Now, Dower says, USG and TIAA are
collaborating on plans for a targeted communications
campaign to encourage more participation
in the 403(b) and 457 plans. As lead recordkeeper
for USG, she says, TIAA can provide
the university with holistic reporting that
integrates data from all three recordkeepers'
systems and that offers in-depth analytics on
participant behavior. -Judy Ward
Lisa Joe, director of retirement
programs and services; Jason
Culp, retirement plan manager,
University System of Georgia
She would
ideally like to
see employees
save 18% to
20% annually,
including both
their and the
employer's
contributions.
Finalists
Alaska Division of
Retirement and Benefits
Juneau, Alaska
Oregon Public Employees
Retirement System
Tigard, Oregon
More on PLANSPONSOR.com/
awards/2020-plan-sponsor-year
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com/awards/2020-plan-sponsor-year http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com/awards/2020-plan-sponsor-year http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM

PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020

2020 Plan Sponsor of the Year Winners
New Support for HR Teams
Social Security Demystified
An Unstable Time for Funding
Rethinking Fixed Income
Winning Ways in the Pandemic
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Cover1
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Cover2
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 1
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 2
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 3
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 4
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 5
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 6
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 7
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 8
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 9
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 10
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 11
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 12
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 13
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 14
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 15
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 2020 Plan Sponsor of the Year Winners
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 17
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 18
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 19
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 20
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 21
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PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 25
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 26
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 27
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 28
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 29
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 30
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 31
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 32
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 33
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 34
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 35
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - New Support for HR Teams
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 37
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Social Security Demystified
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 39
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - An Unstable Time for Funding
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 41
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Rethinking Fixed Income
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 43
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 44
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 45
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 46
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 47
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Winning Ways in the Pandemic
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Cover3
PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - Cover4
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