Page 37 - 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 Justification
Project Description
For the County of Los Angeles’ 457(b) Horizons and 401(k) Savings Plans, the County’s mission has always been improving the
retirement readiness of its participants. When the pandemic forced many employees to begin working remotely, the County wanted to
ensure that the retirement preparations of those participants didn’t go into lockdown as well.

While many employers scaled back operations during the pandemic and struggled to define a “new normal,” the County decided to
double down on its participant communication strategy and outreach. In March 2020, the County adopted the Ready, Set, Communicate!
approach to communication and education. This meant pivoting to a virtual engagement model with the goals of protecting the health and
safety of participants and Plan representatives, increasing the frequency and scope of communications, communicating in a more
efficient and targeted way and helping participants improve retirement outcomes.

Timeline and Tactics
The County partnered with its service provider, Empower Retirement, to develop a comprehensive program that consisted of the following
elements:

● We’re Here for You campaign - The top priority for the County was to reassure participants that the Plans were open for
business. With that in mind, on March 20, 2020, the County launched a comprehensive campaign with the theme of “We’re Here
for You!” Through email, a website banner and a custom electronic flier, the campaign highlighted how the Plans were continuing
operations and promoted the availability of virtual one-on-one appointments, educational webinars, and the recently launched
online and call-center distribution options. As retirement-related provisions of the CARES Act (such as the waiver on loan fees and
RMD suspension) came into effect, the County extended the campaign to keep participants up to date.
● News and updates - In July 2020, the County quickly recognized that the way people access and consume information had
changed and that its online quarterly Plan newsletter had become outdated. To keep participants updated and further promote the
County’s digital first approach, the County created a “News and updates” section on countyla.com and promoted newly posted
content via email. Participants now access the latest news and information as soon as it becomes available — versus waiting for
the publication of a quarterly newsletter.
● Low-limit contribution campaign - Due to regulatory changes in the early 2000s, a subset of longtime participants was subject to
a contribution limit lower than that standard 2020 annual limit of $19,500 to allow them to receive the maximum employer matching
contribution with the lowest possible deferral rate. In November 2020, the County notified these participants via letter, email,
website message, and a News and updates article that the lower limit had been removed and those participants were encouraged
to save up to the standard annual limit. Empower’s Retirement Plan Counselors called each participant to notify them of the
change, further encourage them to defer more and to set up a one-on-one comprehensive account review to ensure they were on
track for a comfortable retirement.

● Webinars - The Plans’ educational programs continued unabated throughout 2020, with the shift to online-only sessions.
Beginning in spring 2020 and continuing through the rest of the year, the County held 323 webinars on top-of-mind topics such as
market volatility, “Investment 101,” making the most of the Plans, financial fitness and retirement readiness. Each month, the
County emailed more than 100,000 participants to build awareness and drive participation. As part of the enhanced webinar
experience, the County offered a new slate of quick 20-minute “mini webinars” designed for participants to attend during breaks or
lunch. Furthermore, a new content tile was added to the website to provide easy access to a monthly interactive webinar schedule
that included embedded registration links. Finally, Empower Retirement showed additional support for the County and its
participants as they provided assistance to the County’s Defined Benefit (DB) provider. Empower invited the DB provider to join