Vizient Inc.

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

For a company always looking for the next bold opportunity, 2024 didn’t disappoint. In June 2024, the Texas-based health care consulting firm announced the acquisition of fellow industry adviser Kaufman Hall.

According to Lead Compensation and Benefits Partner Natasha Fernandes, Vizient had already been squarely focused on providing a best-in-class 401(k) plan to its nearly 7,000 participants, as evidenced in part by $1.2 billion in assets and an average account balance greater than that of both Vanguard and industry benchmarks. Building on the strengths of both companies, Fernandes says, Vizient will continue the mission of supporting employees by looking for new and innovative best practices and approaches to help employees improve their retirement saving and overall financial wellness.

The 401(k) works in tandem with two nonqualified plans for the company’s highly compensated employees. Additional new 401(k) plan features under consideration include the SECURE 2.0 Act provisions to give participants more ways to contribute and greater flexibility in accessing funds.

With more plan design options available than ever before, Vizient is looking at 2025 as another year of big change, Fernandes says.

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.

Vizient: One of the most impactful initiatives has been the introduction of an annual automatic reenrollment and under-savers sweep. This process has been instrumental in increasing our plan’s participation rate to an impressive 99% from 95%. By automatically reenrolling participants and identifying those saving below the default deferral rate, we ensure that our members are consistently reviewing their portfolios, staying informed through our communications and actively engaging with their retirement accounts.

We also explain to employees that contributions do not stop at the [IRS] 402(g) limit, but can continue on an after-tax basis.

To further enhance our plan, we have raised the company match to a competitive 6%, effective at the start of 2025. This enhancement demonstrates our dedication to supporting our participants’ retirement goals and ensuring they have the resources needed for a secure future.

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

Vizient: We’re considering new features like SECURE 2.0 Act provisions, an auto-portability service and access to the Candidly platform for student loan repayment support. Our employees want to save more confidently for their future, and we owe it to them to keep finding better solutions.

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.