NAGDCA Announces SURS and County of Fresno Deferred Compensation Plan Winners of its 2025 Art Caple President’s Award
Annual NAGDCA top honor recognizes visionary leadership and dedication to enhancing the financial well-being of plan participants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lexington, KY, October 9, 2025—The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) today announced announced SURS (State Universities Retirement System of Illinois) and the County of Fresno Defined Contribution Plan winners of the 2025 Art Caple President’s Award. Award winners were announced at NAGDCA’s 2025 Annual Conference in San Diego. NAGDCA is the premier professional association for plan administrators and services providers of government-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans.
The Art Caple President’s Award—NAGDCA’s top honor—was established in 2019 to honor the legacy of past NAGDCA president Art Caple. The Award recognizes visionary leadership and dedication to enhancing the financial well-being of plan participants. Beginning in 2025, NAGDCA altered the reward structure of the Art Caple President’s Award to recognize two plans; one with total assets under management (AUM) of $500 million or more (large plan) and one with AUM below $500 million (standard plan).
SURS is the 2025 large plan winner for Using Plan Design to Improve Retirement Outcomes. Beginning in 2020, SURS undertook a multi-year revamp of its retirement plans, including a redesign of the SURS Retirement Savings Plan (RSP) featuring the SURS Lifetime Income Strategy (LIS), a new default investment option; and the introduction of the SURS Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP), a new 457(b) plan with automatic enrollment and automatic contribution escalation. The RSP now has $4.15B in assets and 82% of members fully invested in the LIS. The DCP grew from $22M in 2023 to more than $106M in assets in 2025. Recordkeeping fees were reduced by as much as 58%, and investment expenses were significantly lowered through plan consolidation and design. SURS delivered more than 60 webinars, 1,500+ one-on-ones, and multi-format communications across 58 institutions statewide, demonstrating a deep commitment to education and outreach.
The County of Fresno Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP) is the 2025 standard plan winner for Increasing Plan Participation: A Journey of Education and Engagement. Through a decade-long, multi-phase initiative, participation grew from 37.3% in 2016 to 69.0% in 2025. Implementation of an Active Choice Enrollment program for new hires, featuring a simplified EZ Enrollment Form, boosted onboarding participation from 23% to 73%. Employer matching contributions and increased match levels were introduced to drive mid-career engagement. Annual campaigns, email nudges, webinars, virtual and in-person support, and gift card incentives were deployed to maintain momentum. The County of Fresno DCP’s efforts created a culture of savings with system-based and human-centered design.
“We’re thrilled to bestow the 2025 Art Caple President’s Award for Excellence on SURS and the County of Fresno in recognition of their outstanding efforts to help their participants prepare for retirement,” said NAGDCA Executive Director Matt Petersen. “SURS and the County of Fresno DCP’s unwavering commitment to participant outcomes, innovation, and excellence in deferred compensation administration exemplify the spirit of strategic foresight and dedication the Art Caple President’s Award recognizes, and serves as an inspiration for other public sector plans,” Matt continued.
The 2025 Art Caple Award winners were selected by an awards committee composed of 10 NAGDCA members from among 27 total nominations. Projects and campaigns from NAGDCA public sector plan sponsor members are eligible for submission.
ABOUT NAGDCA
NAGDCA is the premier professional association for plan administrators and services providers of government-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans. NAGDCA members include 270 plan sponsors representing 15,000 governments in 49 states. Participants come from every level of state, territorial, and local government, including counties, cities, public safety agencies, school districts, transportation, and utilities. NAGDCA’s members administer governmental deferred compensation and defined contribution plans, including Section 457(b), 401(k), 401(a), and 403(b) plans. To learn more about NAGDCA, visit https://www.nagdca.org/.
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