Participant Strategy Roundtable
2017 Annual Meeting
Financial Wellness
Benefits Exchanges and Outsourcing
Employer Student Loan Repayment Programs
Retirement Income Solutions
Participant Outcomes – Financial Security and Wellness Overall
September 12/13, 2017
Portland, OR
Hosted by: The Standard
*Registration requires an invitation code
Meeting Objective
The 2017 Annual Meeting of the Participant Strategy Roundtable will help you formulate a forward-looking strategy for all three stages of plan participants’ lifetime experience.
Individuals who support In-plan Income Distribution, Asset Retention, and Asset Gathering are invited to join the group of participant education and communication team leaders to strategize on the future direction of retirement saving in America.
Forum for heads of retirement plan participant strategy teams to discuss current developments and emerging issues impacting retirement readiness.
- Drive participation, contribution level, and asset allocation through plan design, participant communication, and counseling
- Reduce erosion from loans and premature distribution
- Encourage asset accumulation, account consolidation, and responsible lifetime income distribution
- Enhance the effectiveness of the national retirement system
Discussion topics include attendee suggestions gathered in the registration process and in response to the meeting reminder.
Stage by Stage
New Workforce Entrants and Generation Z
- Young people must be presented with a clear opportunity to “buy” into their employer’s plan and begin saving for retirement and must already know the responsible decision to make when they enter the workforce. Eager to enter the workforce, curious to learn how to secure their financial future, this new generation entering the workforce is the most promising we’ve ever seen for the industry. Members of Gen Z are impressionable and wise enough to have a good chance of achieving 99.7% retirement readiness by the time they reach 70. As an industry, it behooves us to deploy the most widespread and effective resources to instill the message BEFORE these individuals enter the workforce, in a way that they can hear and understand. Not enough young people are “getting” the retirement planning message in school or through financial literacy organizations. Please come to the Roundtable ready to discuss a new way to deliver the message in a cost-effective way.
- To attract talent with hard-to-find skills, many large employers are instituting student loan repayment programs. Most provide between $1,000 and $2,000 in relief annually. At some companies, the benefit grows with employee tenure, and the employer matches employee loan repayments with employer contributions to the 401(k). While the employee is responsible for income tax on monies received, the employer may receive a tax break if H.R. 795, the Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance bill, is enacted. The bill would give employers a tax break for providing up to $5,250 yearly for student debt repayment; and employees receiving the benefit would not be taxed on these funds. This important benefit can make a big difference between job offers for a new workforce entrant.
Mid Stage
- Financial Wellness – This holistic approach to the employee’s financial health and life outlook has quickly replaced Retirement Readiness as the industry buzz-phrase. Learn more about the adoption and implementation of financial wellness programs in companies large and small to see if one would work well for your clients.
- Benefits exchanges – They have been around longer that you might think. Giving employees access to tools and resources in open enrollment season to help employees make decisions for annually renewable benefits but also for retirement. Households work with one consolidated budget that they allocate among all their needs. How to structure enrollment paths that leverage Artificial Intelligence to help employees make the decisions a knowledgeable person would make in their personal circumstances would be ideal – but is it practical?
- Engagement – How best to obtain and hold participants’ attention? Can investment product offerings actually help? Does the customization of Managed Accounts make an appreciable difference in participant perception? What role can advisors and their staff help move the needle on engagement?
- Fiduciary Rule’s impact on participant meetings and communication – How are advisory firms and recordkeeping service providers adapting their approach? Consider that a recent study found that individuals who have the highest level of access to retirement education at work are also the same group that has the highest amount saved for retirement. How do we best raise the profile of retirement education in the workplace in the new environment?
Pre-retirees and Retirees
- The biggest revenue and asset growth opportunity for the industry for the next decade is in the participant strategy – and specifically in the Pre-retirees and Retiree Income space.
- Plan assets are expected to grow faster than they have in recent years as the pressure to rollover monies into lucrative IRA accounts is reduced. If assets stay in the plan, the responsibility to orchestrate retirement income distribution belongs to the plan sponsor, and there is a tremendous revenue opportunity for recordkeeping service providers and fiduciary advisors.
- From plan sponsors’ perspective, the objective is to manage workforce aging. Plan sponsors’ incentive to be proactive with pre-retirees is a reduction in future liabilities associated with healthcare, benefits, absences, and workers’ compensation.
- From a regulatory standpoint, Retirement income distribution is applied science – Pre-retirees need a plan based on a tested theory to make sound decisions. The strategy is part income needs, part healthcare coverage, part tax optimization, part emotion.
- Retirement income distribution requires a practical approach to implement the theory. There are operational, systems, and product implications for recordkeepers and investment managers.
- Retirement Income Counseling will likely be delivered primarily by Advisory firms going forward. How will the interaction with these firms evolve? How will Advisory Firms’ proprietary solutions dovetail with recordkeeper and investment manager solutions?Innovation in communication technology (CRM systems at the participant level, mobile technology, and content management) allows service providers to deliver high level / impactful messaging and robust client service at the participant level with an appropriate price structure for institutional markets.
Who Attends
Attendance is by invitation. The invitation is extended to heads of participant strategy, participant communication, counseling, education, contact center and website at retirement plan service providers:
- Across distribution channels (direct, consultant, brokerage, TPA, bank, and others)
- Mid-sized, large and jumbo plans
- Corporate, government, not-for-profit, higher-education and Taft-Hartley market
- TRO, integrated benefits, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, and NQDC plans
NEW in 2017 We also extend the invitation to firms dedicated to retirement plan participant strategies including managed accounts, participant advice, financial wellness, participant education, and participant communication.
Date and Time
September 12, 2017
7:00 p.m.- Pre-event Dinner at Raven & Rose
September 13, 2017
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Sessions
Breakfast starting at 8:00 a.m.
Venue
The Standard
Rainier Room, Plaza Building, 11th Floor
1100 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204
Dress Code
Business Casual
Agenda
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
7:00 p.m. Pre-event Dinner at Raven & Rose
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
8:00 a.m Continental breakfast buffet
8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
9:00 a.m. Hot Topics - Roundtable Discussions - New Workforce Entrants
- Generation Z – Reaching out to a generation receptive to the retirement savings message
- Employer student loan repayment programs
- Other topics requested by attendees
10:30 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. Hot Topics - Roundtable Discussions - Employees, Mid-career
- Financial Wellness - Sound mind, body and wallet
- Benefits exchanges
- Driving participant engagement
- Fiduciary Rule’s impact on participant meetings
- Increasing access to retirement education at work
- Other topics requested by attendees
12:00 p.m. Cold Buffet Lunch
12:30 p.m. Hot Topics - Roundtable Discussions – Pre-retirees and Retirees
- Retirement income distribution – Beyond required minimum distributions
- Managing workforce aging
- Tax considerations when drawing down retirement plan assets
- Retirement income counseling – Advisor solutions
2:00 p.m. Break
2:15 p.m Hot Topics - Roundtable Discussions
- Organizational Considerations/Team Management
- Other topics requested by attendees
3:15 p.m. New frontier, and next steps
3:30 p.m. Meeting adjourns
Discussion Topics
New Workforce Entrants and Generation Z
- GenZRetires
- Generation Z attributes
- Importance of financial literacy programs
- Getting young people to buy in
- Counseling the iGeneration
- Employer student loan repayment programs
- Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance programs
Mid-Career
- Financial Wellness - Gimmick, or solid plan?
- Is Financial Wellness a more effective approach than Retirement Readiness?
- Options surrounding benefits exchanges for Micro and Small plans
- Adoption of programs at large and small companies
- Creating greater access to retirement education in the workplace
- Ways to drive participant engagement
- Pros and cons of managed accounts
- Fiduciary Rule’s impact on approach to participant meetings
Pre-retirees and Retirees
- Revenue and asset growth opportunities for the industry
- Managing workforce aging
- Retirement income distribution
- Retirement income counseling – Adviser solutions and opportunities
Organizational Considerations and Team Management
- Staffing and recruiting
- Compensation and motivation
- Organization / alignment
- Goals, metrics, case load, span of controls
- Skill set development
Other topics suggested by attendees
Content for Communication and Education to Augment This Roundtable
Generation Z on a Track Toward Retirement Success
Business benefits for you:
Content for:
- Communications with plan participants, plan sponsors, advisors, and the general public
- Blog posts and social media
- Presentations at industry conferences
- Idea generation with peers internally at your company
Receive ahead of the September roundtable meeting:
- Report of survey results including graphs, charts, and infographics
- Attendance at a webconference presentation of study findings and implications
To gain insight into the minds and habits of Generation Z, we will conduct a 30-question survey of 2000 Gen Z members in four different age bands. This is a terrific way to learn more about Gen Z and:
- How they spend their time
- What electronic devices they use
- What social media they prefer
- Who influences their decisions
- Life and World issues that concern them most
- What they know about personal finance
- What personal financial assets, accounts, loans, and credit cards they have
- Their sources of income
- Their thoughts on saving for retirement
- Their knowledge of 401(k) plans
- Their personal and family financial circumstances
Cost:
- $1250 for registered roundtable attendees who sign up before May 31, 2017
- $1600 for all others
Additional information posted HERE
Pre-event Networking Dinner
Pre-event dinner at Raven & Rose starts at 7:00 p.m.on Tuesday September 12
Raven & Rose
1331 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
503-222-7673
Hotel / Transportation
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hotel Modera in Portland, Oregon. The cost is $189.00 per night not including taxes and incidentals (payment due at checkout time.)
For reservations click HERE or call the hotel directly at 877.484.1084 by August 21, 2017 and ask for the “EACH Enterprise” group rate.
Hotel Modera
515 SW Clay
Portland, OR 97201
(877) 484-1084
(503) 484-1073
The pre-event dinner and meeting site are within walking distance of the hotel.
Register
Registration requires an invitation code. Payments by credit card, debit card, check or bank transfer
Registration deadlines and Cost Per Attendee
| Registration deadline: | Roundtable |
| On or before May 31, 2017 | $995.00 |
| After May 31, 2017 | $1,250.00 |
Cancellation Policy
EACH Enterprise, LLC will refund your entire meeting fee if you cancel on or before May 31, 2017. For cancellations between June 1, 2017 and August 31, 2017, EACH Enterprise, LLC will refund your registration fee minus an administration fee of $175. No refunds for cancellations after August 31, 2017. In the unlikely event that the number of registered attendees falls short of expectations, EACH Enterprise, LLC will refund the entire registration fee.
