PLANSPONSOR - May - June 2023 - 26

AWARDS | 2023 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
average 16.3%. The fact that corporate dollars pay the administrative
fee to run the plan provides participants with an increased
return of 6 basis points.
Salas O'Brien Inc.
Irvine, California
Salas O'Brien Inc.
Sharing the company's success has long
been a cornerstone of its plan design
strategy. It provides matching contributions
as well as a profit sharing contribution. The
recent challenging economic environment,
however, was eroding employees'
retireis
an employee-owned
engineering and facility-planning firm that
has grown rapidly-3,100% since 2011 and
has expanded 153% in just the past three
years. Acquisitions have added five or six
engineering firms each year over the past
four. In 2021, the company switched recordkeepers
to lower plan fees for participants
and enhance the experience for acquired
firms' employees. It developed custom communication campaigns
to walk incoming team members through the new plan and the
transition process. It holds a weekly merger call with the recordkeeper,
third-party administrator and investment adviser to review
all of the 401(k) plan mergers in process.
Lucas Hellmer,
Associate Vice
President,
Compensation and
Benefits Manager
Schwarz Partners
Carmel, Indiana
Schwarz Partners, a family-owned paper
manufacturing company, has grown significantly
since 2008, which has increased the
complexity of the plan's administration-
the company currently has 60 payroll locations
across 38 divisions. It partnered with
one payroll provider to manage payroll for
all divisions and locations, enabling it to
offer plan improvements across the board. In addition, it wanted
to do more to help employees with retirement security. This past
year, over the course of 20 days, 46 in-person education meetings
were conducted. In 2021, the company offered group and one-onone
meetings, at all locations, for participants age 60 and over
with certified advisers from SageView Advisory Group.
Joseph Kennedy, Vice
President of Human
Resources
Corporate DC
$250mm-$1b Finalists
American Fidelity Companies
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
American Fidelity Companies is a private, family-owned insurance
business that also offers supplemental benefits, human
resource services and financial security products to its clients.
26 PLANSPONSOR.COM May - June 2023
ment readiness. To help, American Fidelity
devised a three-part plan to upgrade its
retirement program. It reconfigured and
streamlined the 401(k) investment lineup,
reducing fees and facilitating investing; outsourced administration,
which availed participants of retirement planning resources
and tools; raised the automatic escalation cap from 6% to 10%
and doubled down on financial wellness education.
Thayla Bohn, Senior
Vice President
Corporate and
Human Resources
Equity Residential
Chicago, Illinois
Equity Residential is a property management
company whose mission is " making
communities thrive. " Its Advantage 401(k)
plan was designed to attract and retain top
talent in a competitive benefits environment.
Despite 93% participation-thanks,
in part, to automatic enrollment, which
brought
Karla Schaefer,
Director, Benefits
in approximately one-third of the employees-and
a default deferral rate of 8%, the average deferral was only
8.3%, due to participant inertia. Last year, the sponsor implemented
automatic escalation, up to 15%. It also added a managed
account feature, with both a free and fee-based advice service.
It further invests in employees by covering all 401(k) plan
administration fees: It charges no administrative plan expenses
other than employee-directed transaction fees or investmentrelated
expenses.
Hines Interests, LP
Houston, Texas
Hines Interests, LP, is a privately owned
global real estate investment, development
and management firm that says it actively
seeks opportunities to enhance participants'
ability to save. New employees are
automatically enrolled at a fully matched
6% deferral rate; automatic escalation has
helped raise the average deferral to 9%.
The plan provides ongoing educational
Junaid Karimi,
Vice President, Total
Rewards and Human
Resources Information
System
opportunities to demystify the investment process and highlight
options that simplify it, such as the target-date trust fund. One
goal has also been to give participants the knowledge and confidence
they need to weather market uncertainty and avoid panic
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