PLANSPONSOR - May/June 2024 - 32

AWARDS | 2024 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Salas O'Brien
Lucas Hellmer, associate
vice president, director of
compensation and benefits
LOCATION: Irvine, California.
PLAN TYPES: 401(k); DB cash balance (frozen).
PLAN ASSETS: $319.2mm. PARTICIPANTS: 1,863.
PARTICIPATION RATE: 94.3%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL
RATE: 10.8%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION:
100% of the first 1% + 50% of the next 5% +
discretionary 1% match in company stock.
Salas O'Brien's 401(k) plan has improved
significantly since 2022, seeing impressive
jumps in average participation,
deferral rate and account balance. With
its five or six acquisitions annually, the
engineering and facility planning firm
has successfully merged the incoming
employees' accounts into the Salas plan
and navigated the attendant challenges.
A great majority of new employees have
received a substantial upgrade in retirement
benefits.
Standard
Chartered Bank
Sabrina Reddy, head of
performance, reward
and benefits and pension
committee chair
LOCATION: New York, New York. PLAN
TYPE: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $346.9mm.
PARTICIPANTS: 1,164. PARTICIPATION RATE: 98%.
AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 12.4%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 4% match + 4% discretionary
contribution.
Standard Chartered Bank can boast a
12.4% average contribution rate in part
thanks to its generous match and discretionary
contribution. The bank leads its
industry in participation and bests the
averages for contributions and employee
acceptance of automatic escalations.
Employees can receive additional financial
benefits-e.g., qualified birth or adoption
distributions to the 401(k) plan, 529
savings and financial advisory services.
Wayne-Sanderson
Farms
Christy Freeman, director,
benefits
LOCATION: Oakwood, Georgia.
32 PLANSPONSOR.COM May - June 2024
PLAN TYPES: 401(k); defined benefit (frozen).
PLAN ASSETS: $499.8mm. PARTICIPANTS: 26,491.
PARTICIPATION RATE: 93.6%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL
RATE: 4.2%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 100% of
the first 4%.
When poultry producer Wayne-Sanderson
Farms merged its three retirement
plans last year, it faced numerous
challenges-there had been two recordkeepers
and two separate payroll systems.
The result was a harmonized plan design
and streamlined administration. To
ensure all its workers understand the
plan, the sponsor has tailored participant
communication for its many Spanishspeaking
workers. Technology such as
QR codes, for instance, lead to Spanishtranslated
materials.
Corporate DC
>$500mm - $1b Finalists
Bread Financial
Lindsay Madaras, senior
manager, associate
well-being
LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio.
PLAN TYPE: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $803.8mm.
PARTICIPANTS: 9,924. PARTICIPATION RATE:
74.5%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 9.7%.
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 50% of up to 6% of
eligible pay + 3% nonelective.
Last year, when a survey suggested that
half of Bread Financial's employees
were stressed at work, often over money,
the firm attacked the problem by overhauling
its retirement plan. To improve
its match, it now contributes 3% " free
money, " immediately vested, to all
participants' 401(k)s; it made eligibility
immediate and assumed plan administrative
fees. Enhanced financial wellness
benefits include student loan repayment,
survivor support and more.
Dayforce Inc.
(was Ceridian
HMC, Inc.)
Tom Armani, director global
benefits
LOCATION: Minneapolis, Minnesota. PLAN TYPE:
401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $593.3mm. PARTICIPANTS:
3,413. PARTICIPATION RATE: 84.7%. AVERAGE
DEFERRAL RATE: 12.5%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION:
50% of up to 6% + discretionary.
The committee at Dayforce, a human
capital management platform, has made
consistent efforts to improve plan participation.
A long list of recent changes
includes adding automatic enrollment,
automatic escalation, up to 15%,
and automatic rollover. To discourage
401(k) loans, it earlier added a 30-day
waiting period and reduced permissible
outstanding loans from two to one.
Overall loan utilization resultingly fell
from 26.9% to 15.1%.
NACCO Natural
Resources
Sarah Fry, vice president,
associate general counsel
and assistant secretary
LOCATION: Plano, Texas. PLAN TYPES: 401(k);
DB cash balance (frozen). PLAN ASSETS:
$718mm. PARTICIPANTS: 2,549. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 98%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 9.5%.
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 5% match
+ profit sharing.
To offer retirement saving tools to all of
its workers, NACCO Natural Resources,
a family of companies related to mining
and fuel, broadened eligibility to its
401(k) plan. In 2019, it invited parttimers
to enroll-plus to receive the
match and profit sharing-and in 2020,
seasonal and temporary employees, who
now also receive the match. This year,
NACCO added a re-enrollment sweep
and automatic escalation.
Corporate DC >$1b
Finalists
Avangrid
Paul Visconti, senior director,
total health and retirement
programs
LOCATION: Orange,
Connecticut. PLAN TYPES: 401(k); defined
benefit. PLAN ASSETS: $2.3b. PARTICIPANTS:
11,768. PARTICIPATION RATE: 93%. AVERAGE
DEFERRAL RATE: 12%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION:
150% of up to 8% + other legacy formulas.
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PLANSPONSOR - May/June 2024

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