PLANSPONSOR - May - June 2023 - 24

AWARDS | 2023 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Morgan Creek Capital
Management, LLC
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
As
an
alternatives-focused
investment
management firm, Morgan Creek Capital
Management appreciates the importance
of saving for the long term in a tax-advantaged
manner. Given the fiduciary orientation
of the culture, employees stay current
on emerging regulatory developments,
monitor the 401(k) profit sharing plan and
trust's fund lineup and take advantage of beneficial regulatory
changes-e.g., about a third adopted in-plan Roth 401(k) conversions.
While the average deferral rate is 14%, it is 20% for active
savers. The firm also offers a 3% safe harbor company match and
immediate vesting. For counsel about plan design, it leverages
professionals at the plan's administrator.
Nick Taylor, Chief
Operating Officer,
Chief Financial
Officer, Management
Company
Precision Associates, Inc.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Most employees at Precision Associates,
Inc., a manufacturer of rubber seals and
other rubber products, are entry-level
production employees inexperienced, on
hiring, with 401(k) plans. The company
invests substantial
time and resources in
educating such employees as to the benefit of saving for retirement
and " holds their hands as they navigate systems where there
has been little knowledge and often outright mistrust, " the plan
sponsor says. The result is participation from demographics that
are typically underserved. As many of these workers hesitate to
give up any of their earnings and are daunted by starting at zero,
the company has been making sizable discretionary lump-sum
contributions to help jump start their accounts.
Corporate DC
$25mm-$150mm Finalists
Blue Cross & Blue Shield
Of Mississippi, a Mutual
Insurance Company
Flowood, Mississippi
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi is
a medical insurance company that aims to
provide its diverse population with a retirement
plan that meets everyone's needs.
Along with its 401(k) plan, available across
24 PLANSPONSOR.COM May - June 2023
OneAZ Credit Union
Phoenix, Arizona
Credit union OneAZ says employee health,
including financial health, is essential. In
2022, the entity added over $2 million to
its annual salary budget, " right sizing "
pay for all of its associates, before inflation
skyrocketed. Human resources administrators
take an active approach-associates
facing small emergencies know they
can come chat about alternatives to raiding
their 401(k) account-e.g., selling vacation
time or tweaking benefit selections. In preparing to hard freeze
and terminate the defined benefit plan last year, the sponsor
decided to make those associates " whole " through annual added
contributions to their 401(k) accounts.
Michael Emanuelli,
Executive Vice
President, Chief
Administration
Officer
Harold Rogers, Vice
President, Human
Resources
Pacific Service Credit Union
Concord, California
At Pacific Service Credit Union, a financial services organization,
the plan committee membership/fiduciary representation
comes from the highest levels of the organization and
its workforce, it had been providing a defined benefit plan.
When it froze the latter in December 2020, BCBSMS upgraded
the 401(k) to better serve all-e.g., raising the match from 5%
to 6%. It also revised the nonelective contribution benefit it
had been offering since 2007 to new hires in lieu of a pension.
Now all employees, including those previously in the DB plan,
receive the annual contribution: 4% for one through four years
of service, 6% for five years plus.
Kyowa Kirin, Inc.
Princeton, New Jersey
Kyowa Kirin Inc., an international pharmaceutical
company, has faced a challenge with
employee engagement. To address this,
it
provides education about its traditional and
Roth 401(k) plans and profit sharing benefit
via online webinars and targets communications
about investments to specific
age groups. It additionally uses automated
features to encourage engagement and recently raised the autoenrollment
deferral rate to 6%. Employees are immediately
vested in company matching contributions. Kyowa's annual profit
sharing contribution can be as much as 3%. The plan's trends
consistently perform at or above peer plans, the sponsor says, and
it has an average annual return of 13.88%.
Britt Byers, Senior
Vice President,
Human Resources
Brad Kadue, President
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PLANSPONSOR - May - June 2023

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