Administration November 7, 2002

Plans Leverage Web to Save Time, Money

July 23, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - According to a new survey, plan sponsors are leveraging the Web as a means to cut costs - and increasingly so.
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In the Institute of Management and Administration’s (IOMA) latest Controlling 401(k) Plan Costs and Salary Survey, the Web was cited five times in the top 10 list of best methods to keep a lid on costs.

Most often cited was implementing Web-based investment changes (33.6%), followed by Web-based:

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  • loans (26.3%),
  • deferral changes (25.9%),
  • investment education (24.3%), and
  • plan enrollment (20.6%).

Re-Negotiated

Two years ago the same survey found that renegotiating fees was the tool most used to control costs, cited by 36.1%, compared with 29% of plan sponsors that cited use of Web-based automation technology.

The survey found that plans with 1,000 to 5,000 participants were far more inclined to use the Web for certain investment changes and loans than other categories.

Other cost savings techniques noted by survey respondents were:

  • 31.2% – renegotiating service providers’ fees
  • 30.8% – changing recordkeepers
  • 21.1% – switching to a bundled provider

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