PLANSPONSOR - November - December 2023 - 13

addressing wage compression-]it
also level-set everyone, with transparency, "
Ammon says. " With our [DEI and
belonging] initiatives, the transparency
allowed reassurance of equitable pay. "
Another plan sponsor, engineering
firm Salas O'Brien, this year added paid
parental leave for both men and women,
mental health support and access to the
stress management platform Headspace,
says Lucas Hellmer, director of compensation
and benefits at the firm.
ASM Research plans to add mental
health programming to its roster of available
benefits next year, says Tammy
Lassiter, a senior retirement plan administrator
at the company.
Every Benefit Is Financial
At OneAZ, the plan sponsor's efforts to
make benefits equitable have concentrated
on tying together health and wellness
offerings. Providing affordable medical
care, wellness and mental health benefits
will ultimately drive retirement plan
participation and employees to contribute
more to their account, Ammon says.
More equitable access to benefits
happens by " making sure everything is
affordable, " she says.
The credit union's workforce population
consists of 62% women, which
means " pregnancy is our leading
expense, but when you make [medical
care] affordable, then the person is less
likely to have to dip into that 401(k) for
those medical expenses, " Ammon adds.
" It's hard to encourage 401(k) participation
if you have something else that's
interfering with it, so it's really looking
at: What are those obstacles? "
Conversations about medical care and
retaining affordable benefits can start the
process to change other areas of benefits
and compensation, she says.
" Associates are not focused on 'Oh, I
have to pay this medical expense; I have
to pay my student loans; I want to work
out, but I have to pay for the gym: Do I
pay for the gym, or do I save the money?' "
Ammon says. " So if you're reducing those
financial barriers to the rest of life, then
the individual has more room to save. "
Recently, ASM Research brought in
an education strategist from Principal
Financial Group's retirement and income
solutions business, Lassiter
says. The
TIDBITS
De-Risking
According to a July poll of 250 defined benefit
plan sponsors, 9 out of 10 intend to completely
divest all of their DB pension plan liabilities.
Responses indicate that 90% of sponsors will be
likely to do so in an average of 4.1 years.

Source: MetLife, 2023 Pension Risk Transfer Poll
DCIO Firms Interest Sponsors
Of Smaller Plans in CITs
Defined contribution investment only salespeople note
the increasing demand for collective investment trusts.
23%
10%
2019
2023
Plans with $50mm - $100mm
in assets accounted for 23%
of CIT transactions this year,
vs. 10% in 2019.
4%
2019
22%
specialist reviewed and analyzed the plan,
revealing that women were saving less for
retirement than men.
Closing that retirement savings gap
is now a plan goal, she says.
-Noah Zuss
2023
Plans with $50mm or less
in assets accounted for 22%
of CIT transactions this year,
up from 4% in 2019.
Source: " State of DCIO Distribution: 2024-Key Benchmarks, Developing Trends,
Winners and Outlook "
PLANSPONSOR.COM November - December 2023 13
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