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Notable Findings in
Current issue of Retirement Plan Trends in Today’s
Healthcare Market – 2008
THE RECENTLY RELEASED survey, Retirement Plan
Trends in Today’s Healthcare Market – 2008,
conducted by Diversified Investment Advisors
(Diversified) and the American Hospital Association
(AHA) cites that the recent overhaul of 403(b)
regulations has had a more sweeping impact on decisions
regarding retirement plan administration than the
Pension Protection Act of 2006.
According to the survey, changes spurred by the revised
403(b) regulations include:
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51% of healthcare plan sponsors are creating
information sharing agreements for 403(b) contract
exchanges
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47% of plan sponsors are developing written plan
documents
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28% are consolidating plan vendors
Perhaps one of the most surprising finds of the survey is
that, contrary to reports, 78% of respondents who
sponsor a defined benefit plan do not anticipate making
any changes to their plan and only 1% anticipate
terminating their plan. Other key findings of this
year’s survey include:
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Automatic services and investment solutions have
grown in popularity: the implementation of auto
enrollment features increased by six percentage
points to 29% in the past year; while the incidence
of plans using automatic escalation increased to 16%
from 11%. One-half of plan sponsors now offer
managed accounts, up from 40% a year ago.
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Improving employee education consistently tops the
list of anticipated changes, with 84% of respondents
planning to do so.
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In spite of tough economic times, the percentage of
participants with retirement plan loans outstanding
(7%) has remained relatively flat over the last
three years.
Retirement Plan Trends in Today’s Healthcare Market –
2008
is
the sixth annual survey conducted by Diversified and the
AHA. The study focuses on healthcare organizations’
defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plan
characteristics. A total of 311 healthcare plan sponsors
nationwide responded to the survey.
To learn more about Diversified, call 800-770-6797 or visit
their Web site at
www.divinvest.com.
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