Employees Retirement System of Texas Receives NAGDCA Award for QDIA Transition

The Employees Retirement System of Texas recently won a leadership award for transitioning 229,000 participants to a new qualified default investment alternative.

In May 2025, the ERS Texa$aver 401(k)/457 program moved approximately $1.5 billion in target-date assets to the Nuveen Lifecycle Index CIT Series, Class B target-date funds, from BlackRock LifePath Portfolio Index TDFs, according to the agency’s announcement. The change reduced participants’ expense ratios to 0.05% from 0.08%, saving participants a collective $450,000 in investment expenses. The ERS Board of Trustees approved the change on December 10, 2024, following a review and recommendation by Texa$aver’s product review committee.

In recognition of ERS’ transition, the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators awarded ERS with a 2026 Leadership Recognition Award in plan design and administration, touting the transition as a “high-impact plan design and administrative initiative.”

“ERS identified an opportunity to strengthen the plan’s default investment solution by upgrading the target-date series used as the QDIA, ensuring the default investment better aligns with participant needs throughout the full retirement journey, while also improving overall plan structure and efficiency,” NAGDA’s release stated. “A plan design improvement only succeeds if it is operationally executed with accuracy, clarity, and minimal disruption. ERS and Empower [Retirement LLC] delivered a transition approach that prioritized participant continuity and confidence.”

NAGDCA’s announcement stated that participants who were invested in the legacy TDFs were automatically mapped, based on their birth year, into the appropriate Nuveen target-date vintages. The conversion occurred after market close on May 16, 2025, and included both existing balances in the legacy TDF and future contribution investment elections. The transition resulted in 100% of the target-date balance mapping successfully to the new Nuveen TDFs, with no reported errors or issues, according to the announcement.

The new series uses a through glide path, meaning the portfolio “continues to evolve into and through retirement,” NAGDCA stated. “This design supports participants who may remain invested in the QDIA after retirement begins and need a strategy designed for both accumulation and decumulation phases.”

Nora Alvarado, ERS’ manager of deferred compensation, wrote in an email to PLANSPONSOR that while the transition was “seamless,” the main challenge was ensuring participants were well informed and aware of the change. To that end, Alvarado said ERS and Empower educated participants through a multi-channel campaign, including targeted emails, mailed letters, web pop-ups, newsletter articles, statement messages, webinars and an on-demand video. The firms also proactively provided participants with an FAQ document, anticipating questions related to a shift of some participants’ target-date years to new glide paths.

In addition, a Nuveen portfolio manager provided ERS plan advisers with specialized training, Alvarado wrote. ERS participants were offered “clear instructions and access to no-cost retirement plan adviser support for personalized education and guidance,” NAGDCA’s announcement stated.

Texa$aver accounts had approximately $7.2 billion in assets under management across 296,964 participants as of June 30.

NAGDCA’s Leadership Recognition Awards were presented in the following categories: holistic financial wellness; national retirement security month; participant education and communication; plan design and administration; and technology and cybersecurity.

The remaining award winners included:

• Holistic Financial Wellness: Gwinnett County (Georgia) Government and Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System;
• National Retirement Security Month: San Francisco Deferred Compensation Plan and State of North Carolina;
• Participant Education and Communication: City of Phoenix (Arizona), Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan; and San Bernardino County (California);
• Plan Design and Administration: County of Monterey (California) and State of California Savings Plus; and
• Technology and Cybersecurity: California Public Employees’ Retirement System.