PLANSPONSOR - November/December 2024 - 24

CONFERENCE COVERAGE
Five of our recent Plan Sponsor of the Year winners and finalists joined
us this fall for Plan Sponsors in Conversation, a webinar series in
which these exceptional plan sponsors shared their stories of success.
Sponsors and advisers who tuned in heard the panelists discuss how
they communicate with and engage participants; increase the financial
wellness and retirement readiness of their employees; and address the
ever-present need to help participants create retirement income. The
stories were educational and motivating. Below is partial coverage
of the event. The full livestream may be viewed at plansponsor.com/
events/2024-plansponsor-plan-sponsors-in-conversation.
Improving Employees'
Financial Picture and
Increasing Engagement
S
peakers in the " Improving Employees'
Financial Picture and Increasing
Engagement " session discussed how they
help their employee base-each having
vastly different demographics-via their
company's financial wellness program.
'Everything in One Place'
Tamra Miller, benefits manager at Ingevity
Corp., a chemical manufacturing company
and a 2023 finalist for Plan Sponsor of the
Year, Corporate Defined Contribution
>$150mm - $250mm, said Ingevity staff
24 PLANSPONSOR.COM November - December 2024
are mainly older and male, the majority
being in their mid-40s. Thus, many of the
company's benefits are tailored to them.
While
the plan's participants
are
highly educated, some with a Ph.D., understanding
investing and retirement saving
is not everyone's priority, Miller said. " We
find that people don't start to pay attention
to retirement until they're in their 40s. "
The sponsor relies on recordkeeper
Empower for many plan services-e.g., a
brokerage window, managed accounts, free
financial planning and an online wealth
management
tool. This
conserves her
resources as her team is small, Miller said.
Moreover, to offer too many of the range of
services and benefits widely available can
" overwhelm employees, " she said. " Having
everything in one place, easy to access and
manage, is hugely important. "
Ingevity also has annual retirement
readiness webinars, which are well
attended, Miller said.
Customizing With AI and More
According to Lindsay Madaras, senior
manager, associate well-being at Bread
Financial Holdings Inc., a financial
services company and 2024 Plan Sponsor
of the Year, Corporate DC >$500mm - $1b,
about half of the firm's 7,000 employees
are call center staff-around 1,000 in
India-which poses some challenges.
When Madaras joined Bread
Financial, it offered only financial wellness
workshops; it still does, inviting speakers
from local credit unions or the plan's
recordkeeper. She said about 2,000 attend
these events, which are held on company
time to better reach the call center workers.
So, to personalize its education, the
firm now offers a BrightPlan financial wellness
tool to any participant with account
savings, Madaras said. The tool serves as
a holistic platform where participants can
link their various financial accounts to see
their overall net worth, she said.
BrightPlan also provides an artificial
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PLANSPONSOR - November/December 2024

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