Joseph Michael

Two years ago, Joseph Michael, relationship director with OneAmerica, took part in what he now calls “the incredible retirement plan transformation.” His client SoutheastHEALTH was moving to an automatic enrollment platform.

“Michael played an instrumental role” in that process,” says Jennifer Dye at the health care organization.

Important to making the move was to first understand the plan’s overall goals, Michael says. “Once we came together to [do that], we not only worked to redesign the retirement program to achieve those goals but we heavily invested in education efforts to provide the critical information each employee needed.”

The education was no small undertaking, Dye notes. “He along with his team met with more than 200 staff members over a three-month time span to assist them in understanding the plan.”

The result was that participation, overall, climbed to 90% by March 2016, from 26.2% the previous August, and the average deferral rate rose nearly 3%, she says. Last year, Michael helped SoutheastHEALTH change its investment lineup and fee structure.

According to Dye, “Our goal was to increase cost-efficiency while providing greater fee transparency. Enhancements to our plan included adding lower-cost investment options and a new suite of target-date funds [TDFs].”

“The transformation was certainly a collaboration of many parties,” Michael recalls. “SoutheastHEALTH and its HR [human resources] staff are exceedingly invested in each and every employee and want to ensure their success.”

While he enjoys working directly with all of his clients, he says, “SoutheastHEALTH willingly goes out of its way to ensure the satisfaction of their employees, who in turn provide that same dedication and enthusiasm to every one of their customers.”

His high regard for the client is perhaps why “Joe not only goes above and beyond, each and every day, for our firm, but continually exceeds expectations on projects and major transactions,” Dye says. “This transition would not have been possible without his constant hard work and dedication to our account.”