PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 30

2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR WINNERS
Corporate 401(k) >$250mm - $1b
Vision Service Plan
Rancho Cordova, California
V
ision Service Plan (VSP) shares retirement-planning
messages virtually anywhere
employees can think to look: in snail
mail, email and signs in office elevators, kitchens
and even bathroom stalls. After all, when
you have 6,500 participants across multiple
locations-and with many not working at computers-you
must be creative with your 401(k)
communications.
" We use pretty much any communication
vehicle we can, " says April Bettencourt, senior
director, global employee benefits at VSP, a
vision insurance company. " We grab their attention
wherever we can. "
'Care and Diligence'
Larry Deatherage, founder and managing
principal at adviser firm Retirement Benefits
Group (RBG) in La Jolla, California, says, in
his 30 years in the business, he has never seen
so many employees in a company know about
their financial wellness program options. He
credits VSP's creativity.
Both RGB and Prudential Retirement-
VSP's recordkeeper since 2013-conduct
regular, on-site group and one-on-one educational
meetings.
Last year, VSP's education was broadened
to overall financial wellness; participants were
given personalized " gap " and recommendation
statements coupled with phone and in-person
access to counselors. Topics now include
budgeting, achieving long-term financial goals
and preparing for financial emergencies.
Bob Belanger, vice president of key account
management at Prudential, coordinates with the
adviser and sponsor as to what financial wellness
topics they want to cover. " The program really
steps back and takes into account [everything]
people need to be financially well-what they
should be doing or thinking about, " he says.
Through third-party vendor Financial
Soundings, VSP's active and retired employees
each receive a yearly, customized retirement
30 PLANSPONSOR.COM August - September 2020
readiness report including information on the
person's engagement in the plan.
From Financial Finesse, employees can
get financial coaching over the phone, plus
resources to help with planning for retirement or
other major financial expenditures.
To act on its values of diversity and inclusion,
VSP offers its employees many specific resource
groups-e.g., the Black Heritage Business
Resource Group and the Military Veterans
Business Resource Group-to encourage wellness
and aid professional growth.
In VSP, Belanger sees a sense of ethical
duty to inform employees about valuable
financial topics that can help them plan for
the future. The sponsor exhibits " care and diligence, "
with a " consistent eye on what's best
for the participants, " he says.
Auto-Features, Low Fees
VSP was an early adopter of automatic features
for its 401(k), which has taken participation from
about 50% to 96%, Belanger says. The company
also matches up to 5% dollar for dollar, plus gives
possible profit sharing up to 10%. Such sponsor
generosity can actually create a problem, he says:
Employees decide they can defer less, " but that
dynamic is not taking place at VSP. "
VSP has also worked to decrease plan fees;
the 22-option investment lineup consists of some
of the lowest-cost collective investment trust
(CIT) index funds available. Further, the plan
offers Roth contributions and lifetime income
investment alternatives.
All of this works to produce a projected
average retirement income replacement rate of
77% and average account balance of $152,000.
To maintain this success, the plan
committee has weekly project calls about the
plan, monthly reviews of plan data, quarterly
adviser-led formal investment and plan reviews,
and annual fiduciary training. Recently, it instituted
data security and process reviews for
preventing fraudulent access. -CH
April Bettencourt, senior director,
global employee benefits, Vision
Service Plan
... in his 30
years in the
business, he
has never
seen so many
employees in
a company
know about
their financial
wellness
program
options.
Finalists
Coca-Cola Bottlers
Association
Atlanta, Georgia
JTEKT North America
Greenville, South Carolina
McGuireWoods LLP
Richmond, Virginia
Refinitiv US LLC
New York, New York
More on PLANSPONSOR.com/
awards/2020-plan-sponsor-year
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PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020

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