Press Release

TIAA clients named 2020 Plan Sponsors of the Year for commitment to participant retirement success, sweep nonprofit category

Issued by TIAA

Sept. 15, 2020

NEW YORK, September 15, 2020 – TIAA, a leading financial services provider, announced today that three clients have been named “2020 Plan Sponsors of the Year” by PLANSPONSOR magazine, sweeping the nonprofit category. The institutions selected as winners for their respective categories include The University System of Georgia, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and Yale University.

PLANSPONSOR’s “Plan Sponsor of the Year” is an annual awards program that recognizes retirement plan sponsors that show a commitment to their participants’ financial health and retirement success.

“TIAA is honored to work alongside such incredible partners dedicated to improving retirement readiness and outcomes for their participants,” said Doug Chittenden, Executive Vice President and Head of Institutional Relationships, TIAA. “Their efforts are especially critical now in light of the unprecedented economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and will help to ensure participants are able to continue to meet their long-term financial goals.”

The organizations selected include:

• The University System of Georgia, which includes 26 public institutions across Georgia, was recognized in the Public Defined Contribution category for its Retirement Plans Modernization Project. The project included streamlining 78 voluntary plans across each institution into one system-wide 403(b) plan and one 457(b) plan; consolidating the number of plan providers from 13 to three; offering a simplified and tiered the investment menu and; reducing participant fees by $7 million while also increasing transparency.

• Cobleskill Regional Hospital, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Bassett Healthcare Network, won the Nonprofit Defined Contribution category for < $500MM. The small facility had limited resources to devote to its 403(b) retirement plan, but by implementing automatic enrollment and automatic escalation for employees, now has a 93 percent participation rate, including many low-wage earners. To help participants continue to save for retirement, TIAA staff members are available on-site to discuss their financial health.

• Yale University, a private Ivy League university in New Haven, Connecticut, won the Nonprofit Defined Contribution category for >$500MM for its futuristic method of putting participants on the path to retirement security. In 2019, Yale implemented a new invest­ment lineup consisting of mutual funds, variable annuities and a guaranteed annuity. It also built a custom QDIA—a managed account with quarterly rebalancing of custom portfolios that behaves like a target-date fund and includes a guaranteed annuity with an option for lifetime income. Added together with offering employees immediate eligibility and immediate vesting in employer contributions, automatic enrollment at a 5% deferral rate, automatic escalation, and Roth 403(b) deferrals, the innovative plan design features are intended to create a secure retirement for its employees. The University also offers financial wellness education and has three full-time TIAA financial advisors—including two on-site—to support faculty and staff.

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