NYC Health + Hospitals – Register your Account Campaign

This project focused on the safety & security of our participants accounts in the NYC Health + Hospitals TDA Program: 403(b) Plan. Our campaign consistently reminded individuals of the importance of registering their account online. We implemented a muti-media approach, including emails, digital screens at the various hospitals, giveaways, and seminars. Our results speak for themselves: In less than six months, close to 50% of our participants have taken action to register their accounts.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:26:46-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

Nevada Public Employees’ Deferred Compensation Program – Creating Cybersecurity Awareness

The Nevada Deferred Compensation (NDC) Program, as part of the State of Nevada Department of Administration, is committed to help create a personal financial wellness plan for all State employees and their families. An important component of holistic financial wellness is the protection of one's assets, income, identity, and estate. As such, the Program recognized the importance of safeguarding NDC accounts and participant information against the ongoing risk of fraud, cyber threats, and other unauthorized activity. In partnership its recordkeeper and investment consultant, the NDC Program implemented a cybersecurity policy statement and deployed a series of cybersecurity awareness campaigns to help all participants keep their accounts secure from constantly evolving and changing threats.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:25:48-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

City of Portland – Toss the paper! The effects of paperless processing for Plans and participants

The City of Portland made the decision to enhance the employee and participant experience by adopting online capabilities and functionality to increase employee participation and engagement in the Plan, improve the employee experience from enrollment to retirement, increase efficiency and data security/integrity and reduce administrative challenges and burdens for the City. The City enabled online enrollment, online contribution rate change service and online beneficiary maintenance through a participant's account via the dedicated Plan website. This shift in process required a comprehensive multi-touch communication campaign to inform and educate participants on the new services and processes, focusing on how these changes will help make managing Plan accounts simpler.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:24:24-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

Washington State DRS – Roth Implementation

Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) administers one of the most complex public retirement systems in the country, comprising of fifteen plans across eight individual retirement systems. DRS' deferred compensation plan (DCP) is a voluntary 457(b) program with approximately $6.6B in assets. In March 2022, Washington State legislation required that DCP add Roth as a contribution option no later than December 1, 2023. On October 1, 2023, DCP customers were given the option to begin using Roth, including Roth conversions. Implementation included communicating clearly with employers and customers about the differences between pretax and Roth. Communications were focused on key messages with consistent language and themes with a thoughtfully crafted timeline. The theme was nature-oriented and designed to integrate components of the natural world specific to the State of Washington, including bears, eagles and salmon. A Roth video, multifaceted email campaign, virtual Q&A sessions geared towards various age groups, podcast and social media posts all resulted in the success of reaching the Roth adoption goal for the first year within 6 months.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:22:58-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

State University of New York (SUNY) – SUNY Campus Dashboard

The SUNY Campus Dashboard is an innovative tool designed to enhance retirement outcomes across SUNY's diverse network of campuses. Developed by CAPTRUST, this dashboard aggregates and analyzes data from multiple recordkeepers to provide a clear, actionable view of retirement plan performance, focusing on participant demographics, asset trends, and enrollment metrics. By identifying disparities and tracking progress, the dashboard enables targeted interventions to boost enrollment and engagement, particularly among underrepresented groups. This strategic tool not only supports informed decision-making but also fosters a culture of proactive retirement planning across SUNY's campuses, ensuring all employees have the resources necessary for a secure retirement.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:18:25-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

Maryland Teachers and State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans (MSRP) – Catch the Match

The State of Maryland reinstated and funded the Match bill for State employees currently contributing to their supplemental retirement plans. Thrilled with the approval, we established a Match program, created, and executed a robust communication plan within an eight-week window of opportunity from when the bill was approved to when it was effective. Our clever and highly effective 'Catch the Match' campaigns and education outreach resulted in remarkable increases in enrollments, contributions, and rollovers. We are proud we helped improved the financial futures of thousands of our current, new, and future MSRP members.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:17:16-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

State of Indiana – Hoosier START Beneficiary Campaign

In 2023, Hoosier START conducted a review of plan metrics and discovered many participants lacked a designated beneficiary. To address this, a campaign was launched to raise awareness about beneficiary designation, educate participants, and guide them on how to update their beneficiary information routinely. The campaign aimed to connect with as many participants as possible --regardless of how long they had been participating within the Plan or employment status -- to emphasize the benefits of proper beneficiary designation. Additionally, it shared relatable, real-life scenarios to prompt a call to action by participants to review and verify their designations. By doing so, Hoosier START sought to ensure smoother transitions and financial security for beneficiaries.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:16:01-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

State of California Savings Plus – 2023 Participants Save Campaign

Inflation and cost of living hit State of California residents hard in 2022. California Savings Plus noticed a significant influx of participants decreasing or stopping contributions to their plans. To help participants get back on track to meet their retirement goals, we took a multifaceted approach, including timely education and actionable guidance and resources, targeted messaging based on life stage and financial situation, and virtual and in-person outreach. These efforts resulted in improved participant retirement readiness and deepened participant trust in Savings Plus as a source of support and reliable information.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:15:05-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

Ohio Deferred Compensation – 2023 Enhanced Webinar Education Campaign

Since the onset of the pandemic, Ohio DC noticed a decline in group meeting attendance. With decentralized work locations, fewer employees participated in workplace meetings, impacting Ohio DC's field representatives across the state. To continue delivering valuable education to Ohio's public employees, Ohio DC sought innovative solutions. Although webinars had been offered for more than a decade, Ohio DC was able to increase year-over-year attendance by 154% by providing new engaging content and thoughtful tactics. The enhanced content led to a 98% surge in meeting participation during the second half of 2023.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:14:04-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

District of Columbia – 2023 Financial Wellness Challenge

In collaboration with the MissionSquare Retirement client and plan sponsor, District of Columbia (DCHR), MissionSquare Marketing was tasked with creating a marketing plan to help enhance the FWC DC employee experience. Working with creative partners, MissionSquare Marketing proposed a Financial Wellness Center Challenge for DC employees. The business need was for an interactive and multi-faceted communications campaign focused on the MissionSquare Financial Wellness Center and its array of benefits and resources to incentivize DC employees to engage in the FWC. This would ultimately drive them to their online accounts, review their investments and account information, enroll in the plan, talk to a retirement representative or CFP ®, increase their plan contributions, prevent rollouts and encourage consolidation of outside accounts, and discover the MissionSquare personalized financial wellness services and products.

By Carly Abernathy|2024-09-25T13:12:57-04:00July 25th, 2024|Comments Off

award winner