PLANSPONSOR - October/November 2019 - 6

Issue Intro
Just Around the Corner
T
he definition of plan success has evolved-
from the percentage of participant deferrals to
participant monthly income projections. But
INSIGHT ON PLAN DESIGN & INVESTMENT STRATEGY
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2019 | $29 | WWW.PLANSPONSOR.COM
2019 DC Survey: Plan Benchmarking
in that have come some disconnects. For instance,
experts suggest plan sponsors are doing their employees
a disservice if projections are for savings in that
one plan alone and do not include the participant's
complete retirement assets. In " Projecting Participant
Income " (page 40), Lee Barney reports on creative
approaches providers use to help participants engage
with their plan to generate an accurate projection of
their finances in retirement-including considering
Social Security and participant liabilities.
Studies show participants' retirement outcomes from their employer defined
INVESTMENTDRIVEN
To
have a well-performing
lineup, sponsors should know
how to choose or change the funds
contribution (DC) plans are based mainly on ensuring they defer enough income
to reach their goals. But plan sponsors must always keep on top of the investment
lineup offered within the plan. Selecting and monitoring investments are core fiduciary
duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Experts
emphasize that good investment monitoring starts with a good investment policy
statement (IPS) and the risks of a plan sponsor not fully understanding its responsibilities
include substandard outcomes or potentially a lawsuit-even when the
sponsor has outsourced to a 3(21) adviser. In " Investment-Driven " (page 26), the
issue's cover story, Judy Ward discusses this important topic in depth.
In times of inflation, plan participants in the younger generations have time
to make up for any losses. But there's a risk to individual savers whose retirement
window falls during those times. Sponsors have a variety of inflation-fighting
investments to offer both soon-to-be retirees and younger workers, however. John
Keefe fills you in on the details in " Just Around the Corner? " (page 44).
Among many articles with great takeaways in this issue are " Last Meeting
of the Year " (page 54) by columnists Summer Conley and Michael Rosenbaum of
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. It's a fiduciary checklist of the standard fare that quarterly
committee meetings should cover and, importantly, numerous other tasks
that committees should address less often but periodically. The attorneys map out a
suggested annual work plan of agenda items that committees can cover yearly and
those it can cover every few years. This keeps all tasks on the radar but avoids cramming
too many topics into one meeting.
Also in this issue is the 2019 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution (DC)
Survey: Plan Benchmarking. Readers tell us this annual survey, produced by
Research Director Brian O'Keefe, is one of their definitive sources for discovering
what their peers are doing with their plan. See for yourself, on page 32.
The entire staff of PLANSPONSOR wishes you a very happy holiday season!
-Judy Faust Hartnett, Managing Editor
P.S. We launched a new PLANSPONSOR.com. If you haven't already visited, I
encourage you to check it out. The goal is a more engaging and intuitive reader
experience. Let us know what you think!
6 PLANSPONSOR.com October - November 2019
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alison Cooke Mintzer
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CREATIVE DIRECTOR: SooJin Chun Buzelli, svp
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MANAGING EDITOR: Judy Faust Hartnett
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MANAGING EDITOR, PLANSPONSOR.com:
Rebecca Moore, rebecca.moore@
issmediasolutions.com
EDITORIAL STAFF: Lee Barney, John Manganaro,
Amanda Umpierrez, Karen Wittwer
CONTRIBUTORS: John Keefe, Judy Ward
SURVEYS AND RESEARCH: Brian O'Keefe, director;
Jackie Scott
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Donna Bien-Aimé,
Alanna Jacobs, Clarissa Liu, Joy Liu,
Cherese Rambaldi
ART CONTRIBUTORS: Chris Buzelli, Hye Jin Chung,
Joseph Ciardiello, Jeffrey Decoster, Alessandro
Gottardo, Mar Hernández, Claudi Kessels, Lars
Leetaru, Kiki Ljung, Hayden Maynard, Red Nose
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ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS: Abeer Abu-Issa,
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TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS: Stephan Dennis,
Ray Lucibello, Aaron Montecalvo, Bhakti Patel,
Jigar Patel, Dexter Reaves, Stephen Widom
SPONSORED CONTENT AND AUDIENCE DATA:
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issmediasolutions.com
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PLANSPONSOR - October/November 2019

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