SimPlus Savings™ from Aon Hewitt Simplifies Investment Management and Admin Complexities

Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc, has announced the launch of SimPlus Savings™, a comprehensive solution that enables plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries to delegate certain fiduciary obligations and outsource administrative functions related to their defined contribution (DC) plans while still maintaining a line of sight into the strategic direction of their plans.

SimPlus Savings expands Aon Hewitt's comprehensive suite of solutions that seeks to help plan sponsors improve their employees' financial wellness and enable them to implement new and sustainable benefits strategies, better manage their fiduciary obligations and leverage institutional purchasing power.

Through SimPlus Savings, Aon Hewitt offers plan sponsors a variety of services for their DC plans and can assume responsibility for implementing investment strategy, and plan investment management (including selection of plan investment menus). SimPlus Savings also features comprehensive administration solutions, such as DC plan recordkeeping, daily operations and transaction processing, and participant services (including online investment advice, managed accounts, brokerage, and customer service).1

"Many DC plan sponsors are responsible for managing hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, yet investment selection and oversight isn't their core business. In addition, heightened focus on fiduciary obligations, increased regulation and the desire to help workers meet their retirement needs have made managing DC plans increasingly complex," said Clinton Cary, partner and U.S. delegated chief investment officer at Hewitt EnnisKnupp, Inc. "For more than 25 years, Aon Hewitt has partnered with our clients to help ease the administrative burdens of managing a DC plan. SimPlus Savings enables us to expand that role by integrating these services with our comprehensive investment fiduciary oversight capabilities to help improve plan participants' financial readiness, reduce plan sponsors' risk and enhance plan governance."

SimPlus Savings is designed to help DC plan participants and sponsors through:

Simplified yet sophisticated investment options and participant help. SimPlus Savings uses Aon Hewitt's global investment consulting manager research team, which includes more than 100 dedicated researchers, to help improve diversification and optimize the financial health of employees by offering professionally constructed investment choices from best-in-class managers. SimPlus Savings makes available lower cost institutional investment options that can help reduce investment fees and create better outcomes for participants.

"SimPlus Savings streamlines the number of fund options available to participants to make investing easier and inherently improve diversification," said Craig Pearlman, partner and head of U.S. delegated product management and distribution at Hewitt EnnisKnupp, Inc. "The investment structure is supplemented by a broad spectrum of help to deliver the right balance of high-touch and high-tech support—from custom target date funds, to advice, to managed accounts. This ensures the solution meets the needs of a broad and diverse population with varying preferences."