2023 SPARK FORUM DETAILED AGENDA

With far too many Americans lacking the means to retire securely—and recent legislation opening up new possibilities for product innovation—the retirement industry is scrambling to adapt. TIAA, however, has been developing innovative lifetime income solutions for the 403(b) market for more than 100 years.

In an in-depth discussion with Experiential Wealth Founder Philip Chao, the head of TIAA’s institutional retirement business will provide her take on the industry’s challenges and how TIAA is the blueprint for the retirement plan of the future.

By attending this breakout session, you will hear how Defined Contribution plans in some ways are going “back to the future.” Much like Defined Benefit plans took decisions out of the hands of employees, Defined Contribution plans are somewhat trending this way. Learn how Personalization, Retirement Income, and expanded coverage are driving these trends.

Financial institutions are rapidly increasing their focus on Financial Literacy, since research shows strong connection between financial literacy and individual’s ability to prosper and achieve key financial goals, including retirement.

The panel will review results and implications of the recent SPARK Financial Literacy Survey of ~2,000 high school and college students focused on assessing their aptitude, behavior and confidence regarding savings, investments and basic money management. The panel will also discuss current practices of industry providers and other organizations focused on improving financial literacy at all levels.

Verifying a plan participant’s identity is an ongoing challenge. With developments in artificial intelligence and deepfake technology growing at an alarming rate, verifying that someone is who they claim to be online is more difficult today than ever before.

Join panelists as they discuss how the retirement industry is improving identity management and document processing, including discussions around key trends in remote identity proofing standards and how industry leaders are deploying digital solutions to improve workflows and curb rising rates of online identity theft.

Guaranteed income is coming back into the US Retirement system – this time, though defined contribution plans. Hear three of the leading voices in the industry talk about how you can best prepare your business strategy and benefit from this fundamental shift in retirement plan design.

The panel will discuss how recordkeepers, consultants, and product providers can set up their business models and work with each other to increase their value to their clients and monetize this opportunity.

Plan participant digital capabilities are of increasing importance when an organization is determining which DC plan provider to work with. In an ever-evolving industry that is undergoing consolidation and increasing parity in terms of fees and investment lineups, digital capabilities will increasingly make or break recordkeepers’ business.

Not only are the plan participant web and mobile capabilities playing an increasingly important role in the RFP process, but according to research survey data from Corporate Insight, participants’ level of engagement with and expectations from their participant digital experiences are increasing, and firms must continue to innovate to meet these expectations to continue to succeed.

Is the recordkeeping industry poised for the Financials Services version of “Back to the Future.” Our panel will highlight the emerging and growing trends within the Financial Services industry of digitization and AI practices into everyday recordkeeping. We will discuss those innovators who are successfully reinventing the business through streamlined functions and single point of contact resolution. We will hear from firms using this today, innovators in this space and demystify how to begin.

SECURE 2.0 and ongoing retirement market developments demonstrate an ever-greater need for government and industry to work closely in concert to make our retirement system work better for American savers. The Labor Department’s statutory mandate to stand up an online retirement benefit Lost & Found registry and the ongoing challenges of dealing with missing participants, the new auto portability arrangements offered by the Portability Services Network, employer matching of student loan repayments, and new arrangements to facilitate emergency saving are among the priorities requiring effective cooperation between government agencies, recordkeepers, and plan sponsors and administrators.

“In one of the most significant developments since the passage of SECURE 2.0 last year, the Labor Dept has just released its highly anticipated proposed retirement “fiduciary” rule, The rule determines when investment advice gives rise to fiduciary status under ERISA, and addresses plan-to-IRA rollovers, conflicts of interest, and other issues.”

Other important new developments such as the upcoming acceptance by plans and IRAs of billions of dollars of new saver’s tax credit matching deposits from Treasury, and the prospect of helping American households track and obtain a 360-degree view of all their retirement plan, Social Security, and IRA benefits – including projected and actual retirement benefits — will also require unprecedented collaboration among all stakeholders.

We will hear the latest – presentations and Q&A — from the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, key Treasury Department retirement and tax policy and regulatory officials, and key Labor Department policy and regulatory officials.

In an ever-evolving global landscape, the pursuit of financial wellness becomes both a necessity and a formidable challenge. Join our expert panel as they unravel the complexities and opportunities within this dynamic environment. Our discussion will explore the evolving financial challenges participants face, from gender gaps to economic uncertainties. Hear from panel experts on common barriers to entry such as gender biases, student loan debt and healthcare. We’ll also delve into innovative solutions and strategies to help participants adapt and thrive in this changing world, equipping you with the knowledge to navigate financial wellness in the face of constant change. Discover how to help participants secure their financial future and tackle the unique challenges of our modern era.

This interactive, roundtable session will ramp up the dialogue with key Treasury Department officials to share ideas on how to deal with the billions of dollars of additional AUM from saver’s credit matching deposits to be made from Treasury to employer plans and IRAs, including Roth IRAs, pursuant to SECURE 2.0; alternative means of facilitating emergency saving using sidecar pension-linked emergency saving accounts under SECURE 2.0, using after-tax employee contributions, and outside of plans; opportunities for employer matching of employee student loan repayments; auto-portability for small (and eventually larger?) retirement benefits; and exploring ways in which the private and public sectors can best work together to address other important, current issues of mutual interest.

Leaders in the retirement planning industry are at a crossroads. Changing customer demographics are driving the need to reinvent the products and services they offer. Yet, their business models, core technology systems, and processes often make true digital transformation and innovation a challenge.

In this session, we’ll discuss lessons learned from industry leaders who overcame transformational obstacles by using a product mindset and adopting agile ways of working to launch new digital, investment, and technology products at market speed.

The passage of the SECURE Act 1.0 in 2019 provided a catalyst for the release of new, innovative guaranteed retirement income solutions. Recordkeepers are now setting their guaranteed retirement income strategies in order to meet the decumulation needs of their plan sponsor clients and participants. Our panel of experts will discuss how advances in product and technology are enabling the efficiency and scalability needed to implement a holistic retirement income program.

The panel will provide their expertise on how to implement retirement income solutions within a recordkeeping system. The panel will also provide their thoughts on how to create a participant experience that is both easy to understand and robust enough to forecast and explain guaranteed benefits.

This interactive, roundtable session with the Labor Department will address the Department’s highly anticipated proposed retirement “fiduciary” rule, just released and announced by the President, determining when investment advice gives rise to ERISA fiduciary status, and will share information and ideas on how best to set up, operate, collect, and protect participant and plan data for the Labor Department’s new Lost & Found retirement registry project, as required by SECURE 2.0; the perennial challenge of locating missing participants and matching them with their benefits; facilitating emergency saving; auto-portability for small (and eventually larger?) retirement benefits; and exploring other potential collaboration between the private sector and the Labor Department.

In an ever-evolving landscape of regulatory changes, staying ahead of the curve is imperative for organizations of all sizes. This session is designed to empower recordkeepers, compliance officers, and professionals responsible for managing records with the knowledge and tools needed to stay ahead of the compliance curve. Session highlights include:

• Overview of Legislation: Delve into the core recordkeeping legislation that impacts your industry. Understand the key provisions, requirements, and compliance obligations that apply to your organization.
• SECURE 2.0 and Beyond: Explore the latest updates in compliance legislation, with a focus on SECURE 2.0 and other upcoming regulatory changes. Learn how these changes will affect your recordkeeping practices.
• Plan Design and Document Amendments: Discover the art of effective plan design and best practices for amending plan documents to keep up with evolving regulatory requirements.
• Audit and Compliance Monitoring: Gain insights into audit preparation, compliance monitoring, and reporting. Learn how to demonstrate compliance to regulators and internal stakeholders.
• Compliance Calculations: Learn how there are tools in the industry that can help update your business rules to comply with the latest legislation.
• Q&A and Expert Insights: Engage in an interactive Q&A session with our experts. Get answers to your specific questions and gain valuable insights into compliance strategies tailored to your organization’s needs.

Our panel of experts will discuss how the needs of millions of participants have evolved from accumulation and preservation to also include decumulation/spending. The retirement services ecosystem needs to shift to address this critical shift.

We will discuss how the advancements in product development are being commercialized to meet the needs of a very diverse set of participants, plan sponsors and Record Keepers alike. The panel experts will provide insights on the industry challenges and how providers are approaching solutions from a technology and participant engagement perspective.

We will also provide a review of the various products in the marketplace and best practices to simplify adoption and deployment.

From your coffee order to your video streaming service, personalization is everywhere these days. So why do DC plans still default participants into investments based solely on their assumed retirement year? Enhancements in technology are now enabling retirement plans to systematically individualize allocations for plan participants, from managed accounts to personalized target date funds. Please join our esteemed panelists to discuss personalization in the QDIA: where we’ve come from, how we got here, and what’s next.

AI and analytics hold strong promise for our retirement industry – particularly for participants and HR benefits leaders. Our expert panelists will explore actionable AI & insights for plan health, risks & benefits of AI in HR benefits from a plan sponsor perspective, and even experiences in military-grade and retirement AI modeling – focused on actionable ways our industry can help specific participant segments with personalized AI nudge messaging and plan health scoring. Attendees should walk away with an initial point of view on this decade’s most critical strategic question: How will your firm leverage AI TODAY – practically and securely – to create compelling experiences for participants and sponsors?

Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) from the Post-Acute Industry will share their current benefit budgeting challenges and discuss some of the reasons that funding for robust retirement plans and 401k matching have continued to decrease in recent years. The panel of thought leaders will deep dive into pain points each has experienced in recent years regarding keeping their employees financial wellness in the forefront and continuing to provide benefits that enable retirement savings.

In this session we will address the current HR Industry challenges discussed in the previous session and share some plausible solutions that can save companies money that can be invested in retirement options for employees.

We will share success stories of innovative options employers have used to maximize their benefit dollars and create funds for enhanced employee offerings such as retirement or 401k matching.

In this session, we’ll review results from SPARK’s 2023 advisor survey. Topics covered include a deep-dive into Managed Accounts as well as Financial Wellness, Data Sharing, and Practice Management focus. In addition to reviewing survey results, a panel will discuss their specific perspectives on these, and other topics.