Page 36 - OctDefComp

County of Los Angeles 457(b) Horizons and 401(k) Savings Plans

Ready, Set, Communicate!
A strategic communications approach to keep participants focused and informed

Participant Education and Communication Category

Project Summary

Plan Profile
The County of Los Angeles offers employees the 457(b) Horizons and 401(k) Savings Plans. As of “Thanks to the combined efforts of a
April 23, 2021, the combined asset size is $19.6B with 134,391 participants with a balance (457(b) committed team at the County and
Horizons—$15.5B and 116,248 participants; 401(k) Savings—$4.1B and 18,143 participants). The Empower, we helped participants do
County of Los Angeles partners with Empower Retirement, which provides administrative,
recordkeeping, communication and investment education services for both Plans. significantly more than get through
the lockdown. We vastly increased
Background and enhanced their options for
While many employers scaled back operations at the onset of the pandemic and struggled to define
a “new normal,” the County recognized that this could be detrimental to the retirement progress education and support, dramatically
employees had made to date. Instead of settling for complacency, the County decided to double improved their outcomes and
down on its participant communication strategy and outreach. garnered an immense response to
our all-virtual strategy.”
Goals
In March 2020, the County responded by adopting the Ready, Set, Communicate! approach to Kimberly Burch-Garcia
communication and education. This meant pivoting to a virtual engagement model with the goals of Principal Analyst
protecting the health and safety of participants and Plan representatives, increasing the frequency County of Los Angeles
and scope of communications, communicating in a more efficient and targeted way and helping
participants improve retirement outcomes. The ultimate goal was to instill positive changes in participants’ retirement wellness.
Outcomes
Results from each of the initiatives below vastly exceeded the County’s expectations. Positive outcomes demonstrated that even during the
pandemic, individuals engaged and took significant action for their financial futures.
● We’re Here for You campaign – This multifaceted campaign was designed to reassure participants that even though we could not be there in
person, the County and Empower were going strong and are always here for the participants. Email: 60% open rate (three times the financial
services industry standard) and 3.7% click-thru rate. Website banner and flier: 7,541 and 7,214 clicks respectively.

● News and updates – To accommodate participants’ changing communication preferences and further promote the County’s digital first
approach, the quarterly newsletter was discontinued and the County created a “News and updates” section on countyla.com and promoted
newly posted content via email. Since the transition, clicks to the News and updates section of the website have exceeded newsletter activity by
more than 1,000%.

● Low-limit contribution campaign – Realizing there was a population of participants who opted to defer under a lower annual limit of $8,500
and needed to save more for a financially secure retirement, this campaign notified this group that the low limit had been removed and
encouraged contribution increases and comprehensive account reviews. Email: 59% open rate (more than two times industry standard) and
35% click-thru rate (11 times industry standard). An outstanding 12% of targeted participants increased their contribution rates.
● Webinars – Despite the lockdown, the County continued with a full — and fully virtual — retirement education curriculum that accommodated
participants still eager to engage, though not in person. March 2020 announcement email: 60% open rate (more than double industry standard)
and 4% click-thru rate. Website tile: 8,600+ clicks. 17,504 participants attended 323 webinars in 2020 versus 523 participants across four
webinars in 2019. This represents a 3,247% increase in the number of participants attending a webinar.

• Newly eligible enrollment campaign – This campaign generated a 31% response rate, prompting 459 employees to enroll.
• Participant interaction – By transitioning to a virtual meeting format, events such as in-person benefits fairs and table service were replaced
with invaluable educational webinars, one-on-one appointments and phone calls. The number of Retirement Plan Counselor touchpoints with
participants in 2020 was 30,996. This was 10% higher than in 2019.
• Net Promoter Score – In the fourth quarter of 2020, Empower reported a Net Promoter Score of 88.5, indicating strong participant
willingness to recommend the Plans to others.