The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association

A new president and CEO for this sponsor of 32 member bank plans brought 30 years of global retirement benefits experience and refocused the organization on efficiency, communication and service. A large annuity purchase in the DB plan, and a policy update for when DB plans withdraw, eliminated “orphaned” participants. Other key accomplishments included redesigning the participant website and enhancing education through webinars and seminars. Short videos explain the key provisions of each bank’s 401(k), including match, and target a total saving rate of 15% through 20%.

Terry Penta, Sr. Retirement Services Specialist, CBERA

To get to know them better, PLANSPONSOR sent the 2026 Plan Sponsor of the Year winners a list of questions from which to choose four to answer. Below are responses from Chantal Bray on behalf of The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association.

PLANSPONSOR: What aspect of your retirement plan offering are you most proud of?

The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association: We are proud of two aspects:

1. Our organization has a reputation for unparalleled participant services, which include [those by way of] our partnership with T. Rowe Price on the 401(k) side, supplemented by individual and group participant education, both in person, virtually and via tailored print materials; and
2. Our average employee deferral percentage has hovered around 10.7% for a number of years, which is 3% higher than the current national average of approximately 7.7%.

The latter item, we believe, is the result of years of education, close partnership with each of our member employers’ human resources departments, automatic enrollment at 5%, and annual automatic increases by 1% up to 18%.

PLANSPONSOR: What has been the most challenging decision your organization had to make as a plan sponsor, and how did you approach it?

The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association: One of the most challenging decisions CBERA faced involved our defined benefit multiple employer plan. Historically, when an employer withdrew from the plan, its former employees generally remained in the plan, while the withdrawing employer funded any underfunding at the time of withdrawal plus an additional contingency margin. In 2024, after extensive analysis and discussion with our board and member employers, we decided to discontinue that practice, since the orphaned participant section had grown to being over half the size of the plan. Going forward, we required an annuity purchase at each withdrawal. At the same time, we completed an annuity purchase for the orphaned participants remaining in the plan. Initially, we expected that the transaction might require additional contributions from the remaining participating employers. Fortunately, market conditions and annuity pricing aligned favorably, and the orphaned section ultimately generated a surplus, which was a most welcome outcome.

PLANSPONSOR: What is one piece of advice you would offer to other plan sponsors aiming to improve employee financial well-being or retirement readiness?

The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association: We believe there are two key ingredients for successful outcomes:

1. A robust projection tool where participants can see their full household picture, showing all assets/income available for use in retirement, as well as what their planned expenses will be during retirement; and
2. Tailored, in-person/hybrid education about how much to save, when to start and how to invest. We are pleased to say that our recordkeeper for the 401(k) plan, T. Rowe Price, offers such a tool, and CBERA supplements on the education front.

PLANSPONSOR: What priorities or areas of focus will guide your retirement program over the next few years?

The Cooperative Banks Employees Retirement Association: Our priorities center on helping participants make better-informed retirement decisions while continuing to improve their overall experience. First, we see tremendous potential for artificial intelligence to transform participant service. AI can make it faster and easier for participants to access information, receive personalized guidance, and complete transactions efficiently. Secondly, as more participants transition from saving for retirement to spending their retirement assets, we will continue to strengthen our focus on decumulation. Second, while we have decumulation strategies in place, we plan to closely monitor emerging products and best practices, and ensure retirees have the tools and resources they need to decumulate adequately without depriving themselves of spending for fear of running out of money.