401(k) Specialist Issue 3 - 2022 - 26

NOVEMBER
DOUG PRINCE, Strategic Retirement Partners
A Laser-Like 401(k) Focus
" WE'RE DIFFERENT IN THAT our core belief is to do one thing extremely well. "
That one thing is 401(k), something Doug Prince, CEO of ProCourse Fiduciary Advisors,
has done for over 30 years. He's not interested in cross-selling and managing individual assets;
it's all about the retirement plan and-together with a health benefits partner-getting clients
" the most bang for the buck " from total rewards.
Started in 2012 by Prince and co-founder Brea Dantin, the family friendly firm features
advisors, analysts, operations and compliance, but also a " Chief Kid in Charge " and a flurry of
four-legged friends with titles like " Chief Chomp Officer " and " Good Vibes Coordinator. "
Several firms approached ProCourse in recent years to merge, not surprising given the
current mergers and acquisition environment. ProCourse selected MJ Insurance, one of the
larger Midwest healthcare consulting firms, because of their shared vision to address benefits
consulting through a total rewards strategy, using data analytics to improve overall workforce
outcomes.
" We went from
47% to 97%
(enrollment) with
good old-fashioned
education. "
Doug Prince, AIFA , is an advisor and
CEO of Carmel, Ind.-based ProCourse
Fiduciary Advisors.
One case he's particularly proud of involved a heavy machinery sales and service organization
with approximately 20 locations throughout the Midwest. The company recently
instituted an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in conjunction with a transition of
ownership, and it maintains a 401(k) plan and health and welfare benefits.
The company hired ProCourse in 2019 to oversee the 401(k) when plan participation was
at a concerning 47%. It transitioned its health care consulting to MJ Insurance at roughly the
same time. MJ and ProCourse were joined together in the Request for Proposal process and
hired as a team, a precursor to their eventual merger. ProCourse worked with the client and
recordkeeping vendor to consolidate the Health Savings Account (HSA) with the 401(k)-recordkeeping
system. The organization wanted to know how the ESOP and 401(k) would
work together for the participants' benefit.
MJ and ProCourse met with the client to discuss program changes to their healthcare and
retirement programs and ProCourse implemented auto-enrollment with the recordkeeper
effective for the 2020 plan year.
ProCourse and MJ conducted joint total rewards meetings at each of the locations and
ended up meeting with approximately 300 employees. They focused on the employees' total
rewards dollars and how they should allocate among various health and retirement programs.
Prince and his team also set aside time for one-on-one meetings.
Employee webinars in 2020 explained how 401(k)s, ESOPs, and HSAs work as both retirement
planning and (in the case of the HSA) emergency savings vehicles. The educational webinars
also focused on asset diversification within the 401(k) plan and eventually covered logging
into their retirement plan portal and updating their personal and beneficiary information.
As of June 30, 2022, the 401(k) plan had a 97% participation rate, and 96% percent of
employees had asset allocations within their appropriate age range. Additionally, approximately
86% of employees updated their personal information on the recordkeeping platform.
" It's important to remember that we introduced auto-enrollment for the plan, but that was
only for new hires after January 1, 2020, " Prince concluded. " So, we went from 47% to 97%
with good old-fashioned education. "
26
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401(k) Specialist Issue 3 - 2022

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