Nominations for the 2014 Innovator Awards are due May 16.
The awards recognize defined contribution plan executives who are developing creative and unusual projects and programs to help improve their participants' retirement outcomes.
There are no set categories, and the nomination process is largely made up of open-ended questions, enabling the nominee's work to be explained fully.
Winners will be honored — and will discuss their programs — at Pensions & Investments' West Coast Defined Contribution Conference, to be held Oct. 26-28 in San Diego.
The Innovator Awards are co-sponsored by P&I and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.
Only plan executives may be nominated. Anyone may nominate a plan executive, and self-nominations are encouraged.
Both the nomination and judging processes are conducted online. The nomination form is available here.
The innovations must have been implemented no earlier than Jan. 1, 2013. DC plan executives whose projects have been approved but not yet implemented also are eligible to be nominated.
The number of winners and runners-up will be determined by the judges, who mostly will be other plan executives. Last year, seven plan executives were named innovators and eight others received awards of excellence.
