Wanted: defined contribution plan executives taking bold and unusual steps to improve participants' retirement outcomes.
That's the idea behind the Innovator Awards, being sponsored for the third year by Pensions & Investments and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.
“We want to recognize those plan sponsors willing to be out in front in taking steps designed to improved participants' retirement income security, and to embolden others to follow in their footsteps,” said Lew Minsky, executive director of DCIIA, who is based in Jupiter, Fla.
“Past Innovator recipients have been truly inspiring.”
Nominations are due May 16. Winners will be announced at P&I's West Coast Defined Contribution Conference, scheduled for Oct. 26-28 in San Diego.
The idea behind the Innovator Awards is to recognize plan officials and their employers for unusual, even out-of-the-box work.
Executives at service providers are not eligible and should not be nominated.
Self-nominations by plan executives are encouraged. Nominations also will be accepted from colleagues and people outside the organization — including those who work at companies providing services to the plan — who are familiar with the work being done.
Both the nomination and judging processes are conducted online. The nomination form is available at pionline.com/Innovators.
Questions on the form are open-ended, so nominees can explain their projects any way they choose. The awards have no set categories.
The innovation must have been implemented on or after Jan. 1, 2013. Entries will be judged over the summer by a panel composed mostly of plan executives.
Last year, seven winners were chosen. Eight other plan executives received awards of excellence.
