PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 4

Issue Intro
Tricks of the Trade
O
ffering a retirement plan is a great
thing-but its value partly depends
on whether employees take advantage
of it. Are you using everything possible in your
plan design tool kit to encourage employees
to contribute as if they will retire one day? In
" Opportunities Knock " (page 18), we assemble
a list of five underutilized plan features that,
experts say, can boost participant outcomes
relatively quickly and easily. If you don't already
use these techniques, proactively running
them by your committee and providers may
be something you'll want to do-it may be the
panacea that gets participants to a better place.
Defined contribution (DC) investors have
raised the bar on expectations for companies
to be more attentive to their business policies-and
plan sponsors are responding. " ESG
Comes to Light " (page 46) discusses the traction that environmental, social and
governance business (ESG) practices are gaining, and how such investments can
make an impact. There are various options a sponsor can put in place such as passive
ESG index products and dedicated active ESG strategies.
As I noted in the last issue, we've taken a new approach to some of our research
There are
various options
a sponsor
can put in
place such as
passive ESG
index products
and dedicated
active ESG
strategies.
content this year. The newly named 2018 PLANSPONSOR Plan Administration
Guide, Part 2 (page 22), is our annual recordkeeping survey, transformed, the data
broken down into four plan segments: 401(k), 403(b), 457 and nonqualified deferred
compensation (NQDC) plans. We took this approach because we realized each plan
sponsor wants to examine providers within its own plan's space. For each type of
plan, as always, we give you an overview; these are then followed by quantitative individual
provider listings for the entire DC industry.
According to industry experts, conducting a full request for proposals (RFP)
when considering a new provider may no longer be necessary when so many services
are now a given. Unless the RFP is narrowed down, sponsors will receive exponentially
more information than they need, requiring more time than necessary to
review. How to focus on your plan's crucial needs when doing an RFP is discussed in
" Narrowing It Down " (page 42).
One option any plan sponsor will want to ask about in its RFPs is a financial app
for plan participants. Apps are proliferating because they make it easier for participants
to engage with their retirement plan-whether that means making transactional
changes or just to learn. Out of 20 of the leading retirement firms, 80% have
an iPhone app, 80% have an Android app, and 65% have a tablet app, according to
Corporate Insight's Retirement Plan Monitor group. " Upwardly Mobile " (page 54)
delves into this more deeply.
For ongoing industry updates, register for PLANSPONSOR's exclusive daily
content plansponsor.com/registration/ and enjoy keeping up with the industry!
-Judy Faust Hartnett, Managing Editor
4 PLANSPONSOR.com June-July 2018
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PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018

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