In an era of shared decision-making, the inclusion of investment options such as target date funds in DC plan line-ups is a primary way in which plan sponsors can help participants reach better financial outcomes at retirement.
Educate. Engage. Empower.
A communications plan to encourage defined contribution plan participation should educate, engage and empower employees. When it comes to planning for retirement, you want participants to say "I understand, I accept, I will take action."
- Develop integrated messaging that ties to plan sponsor themes and company culture.
- Customize content to incorporate views on what type of information should be provided to participants, based on context of current program; convey in concise, easily understood manner.
- Distribute effectively through multiple channels such as print, digital, webinars, and in-person meetings to engage with mediums that can solicit reactions.
Integrated Participant Communications
Innovation is nothing without participation.
A shared vision and collaborative partnerships are key to success, given unique participant needs.
Jim Danaher
Jim Danaher is a Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Defined Contribution Solutions at Northern Trust in Chicago. His primary responsibilities include directing the structure, implementation and maintenance of investment products for defined contribution plans. This includes managing research to identify new investment products, enhancing existing offerings, including target retirement date investments, and developing new distribution strategies to the marketplace.
He serves as a conduit between investment teams that include portfolio management and investment strategy, and Northern Trust’s distribution groups. He is a member of the Northern Trust Defined Contribution Investment Policy Committee, which oversees the management of the Northern Trust Focus Funds, Northern's flagship target retirement date series. He guides Northern Trust’s ongoing defined contribution research series, the Path Forward, and continually authors research on defined contribution plans for Northern Trust's asset management publication, Point of View.
Prior to joining Northern Trust in 2008, Jim was an investment advisor with Aon Investment Consulting. His primary responsibilities included the sales and support of investment policy development, fund evaluation and management searches, and investment education strategies for qualified retirement plans.
He has more than 20 years of experience in providing guidance to plan sponsors for their defined contribution programs. He has testified before the ERISA Advisory Council’s Working Group on Financial Literacy of Plan Participants and the Role of the Employer. He has worked with several large employers in the financial services, hospitality and telecommunications industries. His largest client engagement to-date involved a defined contribution program with more than 200,000 participants. Jim attended St. Louis University and has attained his Series 6 and 63 FINRA registrations. He is a member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.
