PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 42

PS COACH
Selective Mining
W
Extracting value from data points
hat is big data, and what does
it mean for plan sponsors trying
to make sense of their
retirement plan and the plan and participant
information available to them?
" There's a lot more data available now
than in the past, and it's a lot easier to get
the data-to 'mine' it-and to analyze it, "
says Betsy Dill, senior partner at consultant
Mercer in Los Angeles. " We're seeing
employers really look at how different
segments of their employee population
are using their benefits programs. Rather
than just look at medians, they're getting
deeper into data based on work force
segmentation and using that data to help
determine better ways to help employees
engage with their benefits programs. "
In an era when, surveys show, plan
sponsors increasingly use participant
savings rates and retirement outcomes as
benchmarks, being able to leverage data
about plan and participant demographics
becomes only more important. Plan sponsors
have huge swaths of data available to
them from their providers. At the same
time, they have more ability than ever
to examine and leverage it to determine
how certain plan changes will affect the
company and employees.
The technology conversation is no
longer simply about the amount of data
available, but rather how it is used and,
more specifically, how granular it is,
says Marc Caras, head of retirement plan
network, at BNY Mellon's Pershing in
Jersey City, New Jersey. " Once enjoyed
only at the provider and plan levels, transparency,
enabled by big data technology,
now extends to the retirement plan participant
level, " he observes.
According to Nathan Voris, managing
director, strategy, at Charles Schwab & Co.
Inc., in Richfield, Ohio, the recordkeeper
42 PLANSPONSOR.com December 2017-January 2018
Art by Gizem Vural
not only has the census data from the
plan sponsor, including gender, age,
salary and marital status, but also the
data from the retirement plan, such as
deferral rates, and any interactions made
with online tools or information. Plan
sponsors can ask their providers to give
them specific information when trying
to analyze how a particular plan design
change may affect the plan, its participants
and the company overall.
Besides in relation to plan design,
leveraging these points is also valuable to
communication. For example, Voris says,
" If you are 52 and you aren't maxing out
contributions in your plan, why should
you receive a catch-up contribution
reminder? It may make sense legally, but
why would you do that? " As financial wellness
becomes a larger educational trend,
any communications concerning broad
financial topics, such as loans, emergency
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PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018

A QDIA in Transition
An Unseen Challenge
Alternative Assets in TDFs
Active or Passive Strategies
Boosting Employee Savings
Selective Mining
Future Shock
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Cover1
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Cover2
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 1
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 2
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 3
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 4
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 5
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 6
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 7
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 8
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 9
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 10
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 11
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 12
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 13
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 14
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 15
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 16
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 17
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 18
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 19
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - A QDIA in Transition
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 21
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 22
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 23
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 24
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 25
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - An Unseen Challenge
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 27
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 28
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 29
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 30
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 31
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Alternative Assets in TDFs
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 33
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Active or Passive Strategies
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 35
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Boosting Employee Savings
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 37
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 38
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 39
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 40
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 41
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Selective Mining
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 43
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Future Shock
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 45
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 46
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 47
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 48
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Cover3
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - Cover4
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