The deadline for the 2018 Eddy Awards, sponsored by Pensions & Investments, is only one month away.
Deadline for entry is Oct. 6.
Since 1995, the Eddy Awards have focused on best practices by plan sponsors and service providers to offer investment education to defined contribution plan participants.
Entries — including any materials distributed as part of a defined contribution education campaign — must also be mailed to P&I and received by Oct. 11. Complete rules and entry forms are available at pionline.com/eddy2018.
Winners of the Eddy Awards will be announced at P&I's annual East Coast Defined Contribution Conference, to be held March 18-20 at the National Doral in Miami.
The award categories are:
Automatic re-enrollment: Automatic re-enrollment of existing employees recognizes those plan sponsors that have created effective print and/or online materials to educate employees about the auto re-enrollment process and how it can benefit them.
Conversions: This category recognizes campaigns devoted to explaining the move to a new record keeper. The category also includes consolidation of record keepers by 403(b) plans. All ongoing investment education materials do not have to be included.
Ongoing investment education: Entries should educate existing employees on the investment options of a new or modified plan, or new employees about investment options of an existing plan. Entries must focus heavily on the investment process.
Plan transitions: Entries in this category should reflect the investment education and communication necessary when employees are eligible to participate in a new defined contribution plan. Such eligibility most often occurs because of mergers, acquisitions and spinoffs or when a defined benefit plan is frozen and participants are moved to a new or existing DC plan. The completeness of the investment education typically ranges from what is found in investment education materials for new employees to what is found in conversion materials.
Retirement health-care savings: Medical costs make up a growing share of the expenses for plan participants in retirement. With more employers offering high-deductible health plans and corresponding tax-preferred health savings accounts, this category recognizes plan sponsors that have created effective print and/or online materials to educate employees about using HSAs to help save for medical-related expenses in retirement.
Pre-retirement preparation: Awards in this category will recognize organizations that have done the best job at educating participants — especially those age 55 and older — on how much they should save, how to make their savings last and other steps they need to take for a financially secure retirement. Information about non-retirement plan considerations also should be included in the effort, such as retiree medical, housing and other expenses, and Social Security.
Special projects: Awards in this category showcase special investment education and communication programs with entries as simple as a single postcard or an e-mail rather than a full campaign. Entries can focus on one objective, such as launching new investment options, trying to increase the employee deferral or educating participants to more broadly diversify their asset allocations.
For more information, email Editor Amy Resnick or call her at 212-210-0751.