Nationwide reports plan assets rose to $597 million after volatile quarter; participation and outreach highlighted

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY — Nationwide reported to the San Joaquin County Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee that the county’s 457 deferred compensation plan ended the first quarter with about $597 million in assets, up from roughly $573 million at the beginning of the quarter despite market volatility.

John Segal, a Nationwide representative, told the committee the plan’s reported market fluctuation produced a roughly $9.2 million loss for the quarter but the overall plan balance rebounded in subsequent months. “The quarter started at $573,000,000 ended at $597,000,000,” Segal said.

The report covered participation, account balances and distribution activity. Segal said the 457 plan had about 7,553 participants at quarter-end and an average participant balance around $75,000, down slightly from the prior quarter. Nationwide reported 1,290 participants had elected Roth contributions, with those Roth accounts holding just over $10 million in assets.

Nut graf: The presentation combined plan-level asset accounting with participant behavior data and vendor services to give the committee context for retention efforts and menu changes. Committee members used the session to ask about outreach to employees and retirees and to confirm operational details such as online access and loan rules.

Segal walked the committee through cash flow: the county’s plans received about $10.6 million in contributions from January through March, of which $7.3 million were payroll deferrals, and saw about $11.7 million in distributions in the same period, with rollovers accounting for nearly half of outflows. Nationwide reported about $2 million in assets held in the Schwab self-directed brokerage option, with an average balance around $167,000 for brokerage participants.

Loan and distribution activity were stable. Segal said there were about $3 million in outstanding loan balances across 352 loans, with an average loan balance of roughly $8,700. He summarized the loan rules: participants may borrow up to 50% of their account balance, not to exceed $50,000.

Engagement and digital adoption were prominent topics. Nationwide reported 72% of participants had opted into electronic delivery to reduce paper mailings; 66% had online accounts and 67% of distributions were completed online. Beneficiary records were on file for about 90% of accounts and 91% of participants had an email on file, Nationwide said.

Committee members pressed Nationwide on retention of retiring employees and outreach timing. Committee member Ponce asked whether long-dormant accounts still counted as participants; Segal confirmed any account with a balance is considered an active participant. Segal and other presenters described routine outreach: annual beneficiary checks each November, periodic seminars, retirement-readiness tools and onsite benefit fairs. Segal said Nationwide’s retirement-income planning software and in-person outreach had recently helped retain approximately $400,000 in participant assets that otherwise might have left the plan.

The presentation closed without formal committee action; members asked follow-up questions about promoting the investment-planning tool, possible campaign timing for retirees (noting a heavy retirement month in March), and continued coordination with the county pension office. The committee then moved to its next agenda item.

Ending: Committee members thanked Nationwide for the report and the vendor left the item open for future follow-up on outreach campaigns, additional usage metrics for the retirement-planning tool and continued monitoring of brokerage option usage.