Lockton Companies

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

Lockton is a progressive plan sponsor that values its associates and adopts plan provisions that promote savings and well-being. Through robust listening channels and benchmarking, it has made meaningful enhancements to its plan and wellness programs. Empowering people. Celebrating inclusion. Making an impact. It’s what Lockton’s all about.

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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.

Lockton: Enhancements have included:

• Increased the automatic deferral escalation cap to 15% from 10%;
• Implemented a student loan matching program, starting in 2025;
• Started offering wellness points through Personify to help drive associate engagement;
• Partnered with plan adviser to hold one-on-one employee meetings to promote adequate savings and proper investment allocations; and
• Adopted Financial Guide, a managed account service, to help ensure associates have access to advice within the plan.

These enhancements have helped drive a plan participation rate increase to 96.7% as of December 31, 2023, from 95.8% in 2019, and an average deferral rate increase to 10.7% as of December 31, 2023 from 9.3% in 2019.

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PLANSPONSOR: What challenges do you face in plan administration or participant engagement?

Lockton: Communication will always be our biggest challenge. We try to have a balance of communication by email, internal communication and home mailers, but we will always struggle to get people to read the information we’re trying to provide to them.

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

Lockton: We have an active financial wellness and 401(k) committee made up of Lockton associates and producers who are familiar with the industry and are advised by Principal, Creative Planning and American Century. This committee makes recommendations for plan design, communication and education. Anything presented by the committee that has an effect on associates or that requires plan amendments must then be taken to the broader benefits oversight committee for review and vote. The BOC consists of human resources, the finance department, the C-suite and associates from each series of the company.

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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.