The Power of ing SM SM One Great. One Powerful Solution.
Today s Challenges and the Solution 1 In today s workplace, offering a competitive retirementbenefits program is essential for attracting and retaining a qualified, talented workforce. But providing those benefits is becoming an increasing challenge. A variety of forces are impacting the ability of plan sponsors to deliver retirement benefits effectively. Among those forces are:» The pressure to control costs.» The inefficiencies of managing multiple vendor relationships.» The need to offer participants enhanced yet easy to understand services.» Baby boomers hitting retirement eligibility and bringing unprecedented volumes of retirement processing to human resources departments. Many plan sponsors are forced to rely on more than five external vendors for the array of services associated with offering retirement plans. Employer spending on retirement income benefits has increased 194% since 1990. 1 The leading edge of the baby boom generation will begin turning 60 in 2006, and 11 million Americans will become eligible for retirement by 2010. 2 Recognizing the challenges that plan sponsors face, Great-West and others have designed an innovative new concept in retirement plan offerings: a Solution (TRS). A TRS combines the services of defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans in a single, integrated program. A TRS helps answer today s plan sponsor challenges by offering:» Cost savings derived from standardized practices and procedures, which drive economies of scale.» Single point of contact for managing both DB and DC programs.» Integrated and simplified retirement plan access for participants, along with a broad array of services.» Reduced demands on human resources staff due to streamlined data and vendor management and better participant access to retirement information. For today s plan sponsor, a TRS may represent the best strategy for delivering tomorrow s competitive retirement plan. Eighty-three percent of plan sponsors who ve adopted a TRS program indicate a low likelihood of leaving their provider, suggesting a general satisfaction with their choice. 3 A majority of those adopting a TRS program feel that bundling has enabled their organization to achieve cost savings, reduce administration time and enhance participant services. 2 Where should plan sponsors turn for the most powerful TRS option in the marketplace? 1 Finances of Employee Benefits, 1960-2003, FACTS from EBRI, January 2005 2 Journal of Pension Planning & Compliance, V. 30, No. 9, Winter 2005, pages 49, 51 and 52 3 The Trend Toward Bundling of Defined Benefit and Outsourcing: Implications for Service Providers, Chatham s, May 2003
One Great. One Powerful Solution. Great-West, recognized as an industry-leading retirement plan provider, has been serving the needs of plan sponsors for over 60 years within corporate, hospital and government markets. Our expertise and experience cut across a broad expanse of the American retirement landscape. Now, Great-West is leveraging that expertise and experience to deliver a powerful TRS. We ve taken the TRS concept and made it seamless, flexible and transparent providing you with an even more robust solution to your retirement benefits needs. The SM Advantage Transparency Unlike many other TRS providers, we do not focus our effort on gathering assets, nor do we have any proprietary fund requirements built into. Our sole focus is to provide comprehensive retirement plan services, which include a diversified selection of investment options chosen for consistently meeting or exceeding established benchmarks in comparison with peer groups. We pride ourselves on total fee transparency, and we will provide a clear accounting of how your costs are calculated. Service Flexibility Every plan sponsor s needs are unique. That s why provides you with the flexibility to choose the primary services that are important to you and to bundle or unbundle them according to your needs. We fully support and are eager to work with the money managers, actuaries, trustees or other consultants with whom you have long-standing relationships. Great-West is proud to offer an innovative TRS: the. What makes more powerful than other TRS options? 2 Integration Applying today s latest technology, we ve seamlessly integrated Great-West industry-leading DC recordkeeping platform with our DB recordkeeping solution, which was designed by some of the country s leading actuaries. By integrating all retirement services into one solution, we can provide both participants and plan sponsors with the ease of a single point of contact. features five primary service components, each of which is designed with the flexibility to adjust to your program s specific needs.
1. and Education 3 Our communication and education solutions help engage, educate, and empower your participants. These solutions better enable participants to understand the benefits offered by your retirement plans, encourage them to enroll in the DC plans and equip them to reach their retirement goals. Through seamless integration and state-of-the-art technology, eliminates the confusion participants often experience with multiple plans by providing them with simplified access to personalized plan information and a broad array of valuable retirement services. Our communication and education component includes: Advisory tools 4» Comprehensive participant advisory services, provided by Advised Assets Group, LLC (AAG), are offered in three formats:» Online Guidance An online tool that provides asset allocation assistance. Relationship Effective, high-value communication and education programs 5» Targeted participant communication materials and multi-phased communication strategies.» Dedicated education counselors and educational seminars that focus on both DB and DC programs.» Expert counselors in our call centers to support participants and survivors in making complex decisions at retirement or the death of a plan participant.» Web-based educational content. In a recent survey of national consultants, employee education and communication was ranked as one of the top selection criteria in evaluating plan providers. 6 Account information and management from a single source 5» Online Advice An online tool that builds upon the previous tool, but also provides investment recommendations on the plan investment options.» Managed Account Service A service that makes investment recommendations and then implements those recommendations using sophisticated asset allocation software and investment advisory oversight. See Figure A. While the advisory services are available only to the participant s DC account, AAG will analyze both the participant s DC account balance as well as the participant s DB accrued benefit in providing the Online Advice and Managed Account services.» Client service center that offers participants general and personalized retirement plan information.» Toll-free voice response unit for accessing personalized information, DB plan accruals, DC account balances, vesting status, final retirement benefit payment options, forms and literature requests.» Web site that provides personalized information, DB plan estimates and projections, DC plan balances, distribution options and integrated financial planning services.» Consolidated DB/DC retirement statements, personalized for each participant. 4 Managed account, guidance and advice services are offered by Advised Assets Grou p, LLC (AAG) a federally registered investment adviser. Securities, when offered, are offered through GWFS Equities, Inc. AAG and GWFS Equities, Inc. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. GWFS Equities, Inc. is an affiliate of FASCore, LLC and First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, White Plains, New York. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company is not licensed to conduct business in New York. Insurance products and related services are sold in New York by its subsidiary, First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. Other products and services may be sold in New York by its subsidiary, FASCore, LLC. 5 Representatives of GWFS Equities, Inc. are not registered investment advisers, and cannot offer financial, legal or tax advice. Please consult with your financial planner, attorney and/or tax adviser as needed. 6 Spectrem Group, Large and Jumbo Plan Market Analysis, Prepared for: Great-West, January 2005.
Because we understand how important communication and education are to plan sponsors, we have invested a significant amount of time and attention in creating a fully integrated retirement planning approach. This approach provides a clear view into a participant s overall retirement picture and the advisory tools that help them maximize and realize the value of all their retirement benefits. Laura Whitlock, Manager, and Education Figure A 2. Flexibility. Performance. Value. Transparency. When selecting a TRS vendor, you can be sure that flexibility, performance, value and transparency matter. In a recent survey of plan sponsors3: Those are the qualities around which we have built our investment platform, and they are part of what distinguishes from other TRS offerings. Eighty-four percent of respondents cited investment performance as one of their most important considerations. With, your plan will have access to broad, flexible investment solutions, including7:» A selection of thousands of brand-name mutual funds» An assortment of low-cost, institutional index funds» No proprietary mutual fund requirements» An option to hold individual securities» Fully disclosed fees» Optional investment consulting services5 Relationship Eighty-eight percent listed fees as a primary factor. We believe that defined benefit plan sponsors are now demanding a flexible investment menu and fully disclosed fees something Great-West has been providing for the last decade to defined contribution plan sponsors. 7 Availability of investment options will vary depending on plan size. Chris Cumming, Vice President of Marketing 4
Relationship 4. 5 3. Great-West recognizes the powerful advantages that come from streamlined recordkeeping and administrative solutions. For over 60 years, we have ensured that our clients DC plans run at peak performance. Now, we are able to build on this foundation by adding fully integrated DB services for our clients. With this capability, designed by industry-leading actuaries, we are in a position to deliver a broad array of integrated retirement services to our clients, including:» Trust and Custody 8» Benefit Payment Processing and Check-Writing» Plan Reporting and Disclosure» Tax Reporting» DB Recordkeeping Participant, Data, Calculations/Projections, Benefit Distributions» DC Recordkeeping Participant, Account Maintenance, Plan Modeling, Distributions» Sponsor» Specialty and Survivor Counseling, QDROs, Nondiscrimination Testing This marriage of DC and DB recordkeeping excellence signals Great-West commitment to providing the best TRS platform possible. As part of a TRS, it is critical to actively engage the consulting actuary on behalf of the plans. We will be happy to work with an actuary with whom you have a current relationship. Alternatively, we offer the opportunity to work with our industry-leading consulting partner, CCA Strategies, LLC (CCA). CCA is a full-service actuarial and benefits consulting firm, which has been nationally recognized for its creativity and innovation in the benefits consulting arena. CCA is a strong proponent of DB pension plans, having designed and implemented over 50 new plans in the past few years. Using a unique approach to consulting with its clients, CCA employs a learning model and routinely strives to demystify the actuarial process. Clients are empowered to understand how DB plans work and are encouraged to take a more active role in the management of their retirement programs. In addition, the firm has structured its 10 national locations as borderless offices. This creates an organization where employees routinely share ideas and best practices and support one another to deliver high-quality and timely services to all of their clients. Based on this seamless relationship, we are able to offer a variety of capabilities, including:» Actuarial services (both retirement and health and welfare)» Data cleaning systems and services» DB plan design and consulting Relationship 8 Available through an affiliate.
Relationship 5. Relationship For plan sponsors, one the most attractive features of a TRS is its efficiency. of multiple, overlapping vendor relationships is exchanged for the ease and efficiency of having a single provider and a single institutional relationship. At Great-West, we take that principle even further. With, you will be assigned a single Relationship Manager to handle all aspects of the DC and DB services we provide to you on behalf of your plans. Efficiency and time savings are cited as the second-most important factors by plan sponsors who switch to bundled services. 7 Getting Started with Great-West At Great-West, we believe that implementing a TRS needn t be an overwhelming or time-consuming affair. Our dedicated implementation team will be there to help guide you through the process every step of the way. How can Great-West bring The Power of ing to your retirement plan needs? Let us show you. Contact one of our representatives today at (800)888-4952, ext. 73299. 6 According to recent research, simplifying the management of retirement plan vendors is a key advantage in choosing the approach. Our single-point-of-contact strategy is just one more way in which we bring value to our clients and the power of partnership to client service. Gloria Grenier, Client Relationship Manager The Power of ing SM
Securities, when offered, are offered through GWFS Equities, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company and an affiliate of FASCore, LLC and First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, White Plains, New York. Advised Assets Group, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company and an affiliate of FASCore, LLC, First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, White Plains, New York and GWFS Equities, Inc. Advised Assets Group, LLC is a federally registered investment adviser. Managed account, guidance and advice services are offered by Advised Assets Group, LLC. Great-West refers to products and services provided by Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, FASCore, LLC, First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, White Plains, New York, and their subsidiaries and affiliates. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company is not licensed to conduct business in New York. Insurance products and related services are sold in New York by its subsidiary, First Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. Other products and services may be sold in New York by FASCore, LLC. Great-West, the Power of ing SM, the ship Logo and SM are service marks of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. All rights reserved. Form# G3935 TRP Capabilities Brochure (3/1/06)