Conference Dispatch – Panel on Participant Savings and Data During the Pandemic from the Virtual Half Moon Bay Roundtable

The Defined Contribution Institute hosted its first fully virtual conference on September 15, 16 and 17 for our plan sponsor community in place of our usual live events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult times, it became more needed than ever to put out relevant content and engagement for the community as plan sponsors and participants alike face the crisis, whether through innovative case studies, data-centric presentations or in-depth panels featuring experts and experienced plan sponsors. For our September/October Newsletter edition on Accumulation and Decumulation, we report back from our closing panel featuring Steve McCaffrey (National Grid USA), Katherine Roy (J.P. Morgan Asset Management), and Marco Diaz (News Corporation) as they discuss refocusing on accumulation and retirement saving trends during COVID-19.

Our moderator Steve shared how National Grid is working with its recordkeepers with regards to the CARES Act provisions, as well as some concern over participant behaviors on some of the loan provisions. Marco shared how relatively quickly News Corp took up the CARES Act provisions and efforts to make sure participants were aware of these opportunities. Marco also mentioned how relatively popular withdrawals have been in his observation, though he cautioned that we still need more time to observe how the actions and events this year will impact saving balances in the long-term. Katherine at J.P. Morgan Asset Management shared her team's research on the matter and compared the situation in the US with Australia's withdrawal limits with superannuation accounts. 

For the full audio file of the panel, please access the recording here.