PLANADVISER - May/June 2018 - 6

data points
The Status of Company Matches
I
Overall, 73.7% of plans offer a match, down from 74.7% last year
n the past year, there has been a
slight decrease in the percentage
of companies providing a match in
their defined contribution (DC) plan,
the
2017
PLANSPONSOR
Defined
Contribution Survey indicates. Among
all plan sizes, 73.7% offer a match,
down from 74.7% the year before.
There is a spread of 17 points between
micro and mega plans when it comes
to matches: 67.9% of micro plans offer
them and 85.0% of mega plans do so.
In relation to a participant's first 6%
of salary deferred, the most common
company match is between 51% and
99%, cited by 33.8% of plan sponsors.
Next is a 50% match, cited by 22.1%
of sponsors, and then less than a 50%
match, cited by 17.5% of sponsors.
While only 7.9% of plan sponsors offer
a match greater than 100% of a participant's
first 6% deferred, this rises
slightly as plan size does, ultimately
reaching 11.4% with mega plans.
Matches are most commonly made
on a per-pay-period basis-by 70.7% of
sponsors. The next greatest frequency
is annually, the practice of 14.4% of
sponsors.
Vesting Schedules
As to when a participant is 100%
vested, 37.0% of plan sponsors permit
this immediately after the employee
enrolls. This is followed by 19.3% that
require a five-year wait; 16.8%, a sixyear
wait; 12.8%, a three-year wait;
and 4.7%, a two-year wait.
In an online survey conducted
by Nationwide last fall, 50% of 1,069
business owners with less than 300
employees said they plan to increase
their 401(k) match, with 55% of this
group attributing the change to rising
revenue.
It will be interesting to see, in next
year's PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution
Plan Benchmarking Report,
whether that increase has come to
pass. -Lee Barney
Yes
No
Unsure
Does your organization offer a matching contribution to
participant accounts?
Overall
73.7%
25.6%
0.7%
Micro
67.9%
30.3%
1.8%
All Industries
Small
74.9%
24.9%
0.2%
Midsize
76.8%
23.2%
0.0%
Large
78.1%
21.6%
0.3%
If you have an employer match, please select the option
below that most closely relates to your match formula.
All Industries
Overall Micro
>100% of first 6% of salary
100% of first 6% of salary
51% - 99% of first 6% of salary
50% of first 6% of salary
<50% of first 6% of salary
Other
Small Midsize
Large Mega
7.9% 6.9% 7.8% 8.2% 7.8% 11.4%
12.1% 12.8% 10.8% 8.9% 14.7% 16.8%
33.8% 34.1% 30.1% 34.1%
37.1% 44.1%
22.1% 20.6% 22.8% 27.2% 22.4% 15.8%
17.5% 18.6% 21.2% 16.4% 13.5% 5.0%
7.3% 5.2% 4.5% 6.9%
6.6%
7.1%
How frequently are matching contributions made to plan
participants?
All Industries
Overall Micro
Non-pay-period: Annually
Non-pay-period: Quarterly
Non-pay-period: Monthly
Non-pay-period: Twice monthly*
Non-pay-period: Biweekly†
Per pay period
Other
3.1%
Small Midsize
Large Mega
14.4% 15.9% 15.2% 13.9% 12.6% 7.8%
2.3% 2.8% 5.8% 2.8% 3.4%
2.7% 3.6% 2.9% 1.0% 2.8% 1.0%
2.8% 3.9% 2.2% 2.6% 2.0% 2.0%
4.9% 4.6% 5.1%
3.6% 6.9% 5.4%
70.7% 67.6% 71.1% 71.5% 71.3% 79.9%
1.4% 2.2% 0.9% 1.6% 1.6% 0.5%
*Twenty-four times per year. †Twenty-six times per year.
Source: 2018 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Plan Benchmarking Report
Mega
85.0%
15.0%
0.0%
6 | planadviser.com may-june 2018
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PLANADVISER - May/June 2018

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