AGFA Healthcare Corporation

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

AGFA HealthCare, a division of global imaging and IT solutions company Agfa-Gevaert Group, is committed to empowering its employees by providing a retirement plan that goes above and beyond to make their retirement security a reality.

AGFA HealthCare’s 401(k) plan participation rate far exceeds the average of 85% for plans recordkept by Vanguard, and its average account balance of $325,000—across approximately 600 participants—is more than twice the average of $134,000 for Vanguard participants. This is in large part due to the average 12% elective deferral rate across the population, with half opting in to the automatic increase feature. The high deferral rate is far greater than the Vanguard average deferral rate of 7.4%. AGFA further enhances participant financial wellness through its generous employer contributions.

To ensure a well-run, fair and equitable plan, the company uses two separate committees: its Benefits Plan Administrative Committee and its Benefits Plan Investment Committee. The two-committee structure ensures a diligent focus on these separate, but equally important, topics.

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

AGFA HealthCare: In October 2024, we implemented a re-enrollment, or “under-savers,” project to capture employees: 1) not participating in the plan or 2) contributing less than the 6% election, so they could maximize the employer match. While we had maintained a participation rate of 94% in prior years, by capturing the nonparticipants, we now boast a 97% participation rate, of which we are very proud. Through the under-savers project, those participants contributing less than 6% not only saw an increase in their own contributions, but also maximize their employer match potential. We are also very proud of this, and it is in line with our primary goal: retirement savings and readiness. For both populations in this project, participants were also automatically enrolled in our auto-increase program at 1% each year to further support increased saving opportunities.

We tied this under-savers project, via an internal communications program, to the congressionally recognized “National Retirement Security Month,” October, and leveraged the occasion to communicate to employees the importance of securing their retirement. On this occasion, we also had a series of weekly educational webinars and newsletters to make National Retirement Security Month a highlight and an opportunity to sit down and consider contribution amounts, financial planning and the future in general. We look forward to utilizing the occasion again this year for targeted programming opportunities.

PLANSPONSOR: Please explain the ongoing governance efforts of those involved with the plan meant to ensure its compliance and effective operation.

AGFA HealthCare: The plan utilizes two committees, one for administrative topics/decisions and one devoted to investment/fee reviews. The quarterly meetings include our employment attorney, ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] attorney, investment adviser and plan recordkeepers to update the committees on the plan’s health and investment performance. Additionally, we have a retirement manager who manages the day-to-day administration of the plan and oversees the third-party vendors who assist in plan administration. An annual audit of both plans also ensures compliance with accounting practices; plan operations and controls; and tax-filing preparedness.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.