Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, Olympia, hired Empower Retirement as record keeper for the department’s deferred compensation program and for three defined contribution plans whose investments are overseen by the $103.6 billion Washington State Investment Board, Olympia, said Marcie Frost, the department’s director.
The department issued RFPs in June for the $3.5 billion deferred compensation program and for the three “Plan 3” DC plans, which are defined contribution components of hybrid defined benefit-defined contribution plans of the Teachers’ Retirement System, School Employees’ Retirement System and Public Employees’ Retirement System. These DC plans have aggregate assets of $10.7 billion.
Empower Retirement (formerly Great-West Retirement Services) has been the record keeper for the $3.5 billion deferred compensation plan since 2010.
Empower replaces ICMA-RC as record keeper of the three other DC plans. ICMA-RC rebid, Ms. Frost said.
The new contracts, both of which will take effect Oct. 1, are for three years, Ms. Frost said in an interview, adding that the contracts allow for a pair of one-year renewals.