The State of Missouri Deferred Compensation Plan
wins a prestigious 2020 Eddy Award from Pensions
& Investments Magazine.

  • March 27, 2020

The State of Missouri Deferred Compensation Plan (MO Deferred Comp) takes home a prestigious Eddy Award in the special projects category at the 2020 Pensions & Investments East Coast Defined Contribution Conference. The P&I Eddy Awards recognize outstanding efforts by plan sponsors and their service providers to educate employees about how to invest their defined contribution plan assets wisely for retirement.

MO Deferred Comp was awarded the highest achievement – a first place Eddy Award – for their 2019 America Saves Week video series, Jargon Free Savings. The video series took on a popular topic in the retirement industry – removing jargon and simplifying speak – and it turned into a humorous campaign. The goal of the campaign was to educate state of Missouri employees on the deferred comp plan and its benefits, while poking-fun at the confusing lingo often used in the retirement savings industry and explaining how deferred comp has taken the steps to simplify the words they use in their publications, videos, and meetings. Topics of the videos included target date funds, costs associated with saving, the auto-increase feature, saving with the plan and more.

To view the award-winning campaign visit, http://modeferredcomp.org/news/2019-americansavesweek.html.


Campaign Promotion & Stats

The six videos created during the weeklong campaign were featured on the plan's website and social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube). An email blast, along with a campaign survey, was also sent to approximately 73,011 state employees to encourage views and help boost campaign awareness and retirement knowledge. Two follow-up emails were sent to those who did not click a link in the initial email to encourage participation in the campaign.

In total, the video series was viewed 10,910 times and over 9,000 minutes were watched by state employees. A total of 186,039 campaign emails were sent to state employees.

In just one short week, the emails alone drove 5,314 people to the deferred comp website and encouraged roughly 448 participants to complete the 2019 America Saves Week survey. According to the survey, roughly 5% of respondents took action after viewing the videos (enrolled in the plan, changed my contribution, used a calculator on modeferredcomp.org, and/or signed up for the auto-increase feature) and 47.54% said they would be taking action in the near future. On the survey, we also asked participants what they had learned from the videos. A few of our favorite comments were:

  • "I did not know that Mo Deferred Comp was actively trying to use layman's terms for their customers. It shows they actually care that the customers know what's going on."
  • "The explanation of stocks and bonds had a good visuals and made it easier to understand."
  • "That Mo Deferred comp has auto escalation tools, and one of the lowest fee structures in the nation."
  • "That Mo Deferred Comp has the lowest fee nationwide. I knew it was low but didn't know it was that low. Way to go!!"
  • "That saving doesn't have to be hard and I should look into the automatic increase."
  • "Liked they simplify the jargon - although I am well versed in investing, this helped take some of the mystery out of investing."
  • "I never understood the jargon but these videos use everyday language to make it easier to understand about your retirement."
  • "I wish I could have watched these videos 30 years ago and maybe understood better what I was doing or needed to do with my deferred comp."
  • "I’m not alone when it comes to not understanding all the jargon associated with retirement plan."
  • "(And our all-time favorite comment) I learned that the team who created/produced these videos are very clever."

The State of Missouri Deferred Compensation Plan, a voluntary 457 defined contribution plan, is administered by the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS). To learn more about the deferred compensation plan's award-winning educational efforts, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.