Amica Mutual Insurance Company

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

Amica, the longest-standing mutual insurer of automobiles in the country, stands out from the crowd by providing its participants with above-and-beyond retirement benefits.

In 2024, the average participant account balance was $182,205, compared with its recordkeeper’s benchmark of $134,128. With an average deferral rate of 9.8%, this means participants are saving, on average, 18.8%—far greater than the average deferral rate of 11.7%, according to Vanguard’s How America Saves. Amica employees are also fully vested on their first day of work.

In 2019—years before student loans were addressed at the national level through the SECURE [Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement] 2.0 Act, the company began offering full-time employees $100 per month—up to $6,000 total—to help them repay student loans. The innovative program includes access to debt management tools and resources such as personalized coaching on repayment strategies.

Amy Pryor (right)

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.

Amica Mutual: We implemented a Roth in-plan conversion for our employees so they could take advantage of that tax-saving option.

We also recently added a free advice offering—Vanguard’s Situational Advisor program—for all of our eligible employees. Through it, participants can schedule a one-time meeting with a certified financial planner to discuss any financial situation that comes up—not just for questions related to the 401(k) plan. Last year, we created a custom campaign to promote the service. Since then, employees’ usage of Situational Advisor has doubled.

PLANSPONSOR: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Amica Mutual: A big part of our success is staying ahead of the curve when it comes to plan products and services that help employees maximize their benefits. We offer a unique benefit to employees, giving them $500 to speak with a financial adviser once they reach 40 years of age. We also offer a student loan repayment benefit; this is outside of the 401(k) plan. Helping young professionals with student loan debt not only allows us to support their financial well-being and give them some peace of mind, but also serves as a powerful recruitment and retention tool.

There’s a lot of customizing done to make sure advice, and all our plan offerings, reach our diverse employee base and are used to the fullest. Custom banners, guides, education—both virtual and in person—have all led to strong interest and participation rates. Additionally, each year, we offer custom education events to employees older than 45, and this year’s topics included retirement income and estate planning, with strong attendance at each session offered.

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.