Insights

According to the annual survey of the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), both participant and employer contributions increased during 2011. The survey included 840 plans representing 10.3 million participants and $753 billion in assets.

Significant highlights of the survey include:

• An increase in participation of employees making contributions of approximately 2.6%.
• An increase of approximately 4.5% of employers bringing back the employer match; however small companies with fewer than 200 participants experienced a 9.5% increase in bringing back the employer match contribution.
• Increase in the average deferral rate from participants.
• Increase in average company contribution to 4.1% of pay up from 3.7%.
• Focus on plan design features that increase overall participant outcomes, including an increasing number of plans offering features such as target-date funds, automatic enrollment, and Roth after-tax contributions.

“The continued upward trend in participation and contribution levels is a result of the ongoing, sustained efforts of plan sponsors to effectively communicate their plan and educate their participants on the benefits of enrolling and staying in the plan,” said Bob Benish, PSCA’s Interim President and Executive Director. “Sponsors are looking beyond just increasing participation rates and are embracing plan design features that will make the plan more attractive to employees, while also making the plan more effective at increasing overall retirement readiness and financial health.”

For a complete summary of the survey visit www.psca.org.

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