What to do? Where to be? How to react?
Sandy McCarthy, president of Retirement Services at OneAmerica, has fielded a lot of questions since the COVID-19 pandemic began. They mainly focus on the steps she and OneAmerica—as a retirement plan provider—have taken to address key concerns and proactively offer assistance to ease anxiety in the current market environment.
She sat with 401(k) Specialist to answer them, as well as discuss client education and connection during a crisis to calmly and methodically address the situation.
The company also announced Tuesday that it is immediately waiving fees for all hardship withdrawals, including those distributions related to COVID-19.
Q: What are you doing to help advisors, plan sponsors and participants navigate the COVID-19 pandemic?
McCarthy: We’ve moved quickly, putting out materials related to the CARES Act Economic Relief Plan and best practices around virtual engagement, as it has become our reality overnight.
In addition to our day-to-day financial education and retirement preparation resources, we’re also providing information that’s especially relevant given our current environment. It ranges from phone calls to topical webinars and special peer-to-peer sessions that combine governmental relief with actionable options.
Our COVID-19 webpage, open to all, is another way we’re responding. Whether people are looking to realign their budget, reposition their retirement accounts or better understand market volatility, this page can help them.
The bottom line of all our efforts is to keep connected to each other in an era of social distancing.
Q: What measures are being taken to continue to educate plan participants about stock market volatility?
McCarthy: Just a few months ago, retirement services professionals were talking about solid growth in the economy. We always educate our advisors, sponsors and participants to be appreciative of gains in their 401k or tax-exempt accounts, while understanding that market fluctuations shouldn’t lead to rash decision-making. Our education promotes long-term thinking.
That’s exactly what we’ve seen with the emergence of COVID-19. Recognizing that our participants are now facing a great amount of uncertainty, we have begun proactively offering webinars for plan sponsors and participants—providing insight and education on the current market volatility we’re all facing. We want our participants to understand their options. While volatile markets can be unnerving, we believe it’s important to avoid making emotional moves.
Q: Are you changing strategies on how to educate participants about the long-term nature of 401ks?
McCarthy: Because we’ve always worked to educate our participants about market volatility, changing economic conditions and retirement planning for both the short and long term, we’re not necessarily changing strategies. We are however reinforcing specific segments focused on decision-making during periods of volatility.
Q: Are you changing strategies on client and advisor engagement?
McCarthy: The way we’re doing business today looks very different than it did a month or so ago—at least in terms of where we’re doing our work and how we’re connecting. And though in-person meetings have stopped, the leadership team and our retirement services associates are working to find new ways to stay connected with our customers.
Relationships have always been our foundation, and now more than ever, we want to be readily available for our customers. Though it looks different and is requiring flexibility and innovation, we’re remaining accessible—even if it’s now happening from a kitchen table, home office or a living room couch.
Q: Has there been an increase in calls and/or web usage during the pandemic? What are the most frequent questions or concerns that participants have voiced over the phone or online?
McCarthy: We’re certainly seeing increased activity across the board. The questions about “what to do” depend on the participant’s age and circumstances, but individuals just want to make sure (due to the economy and the loss of jobs) that they are properly allocated.
We’re seeing people who may have lost a job calling with questions about making an immediate hardship withdrawal. We also have some participants who have never been exposed to severe market volatility and are wondering about their options. Our focus is on providing the information and guidance they need to make the best decisions for their unique situations.