WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California State Teachers’ Retirement System received the Drexel LeBow Analytics 50 Award for its redesigned 403bCompare website from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. The website was selected based on three criteria: the complexity of the business challenge; the analytics solution implemented; and the solution’s business impact on the organization.
“CalSTRS was honored for its work on website integrated analytics and indeed was the only pension fund out of the 50 organizations nominated. Our work was celebrated alongside that of high-profile financial services like Vanguard and Pershing Capital,” said CalSTRS Chief Technology Officer Ashish Jain. “The user-friendly design of 403bCompare.com removes the complexity of choosing a 403(b) product for our members and removes any barriers to plan participation.”
Required by the law passed in 2002 (AB 2506, Steinberg), 403bCompare.com is an information resource filled with objective, non-biased information about 403(b) retirement savings vendors and the products they offer, including fee information and investment fund performance data. Additional information featured on the site redesign includes:
- Real-time updates on vendor products and commissions through a partnership with Morningstar.
- Eight filter options to customize product searches.
- The ability to compare three products side-by-side at one time while mixing & matching product types.
- Users can save up to five comparisons for future reference.
- Access to education on 403(b) plans presented in short videos.
“This is the third award 403bCompare.com has received since its redesign,” said CalSTRS Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes. “Government agencies often shy away from complex technology projects. It’s clear that when a design is well-executed and provides value to the user and the organization people take notice.”
Ehnes continued, “Our main focus was to provide easy access to supplemental savings since it is an essential component to our members’ plan for a secure retirement. CalSTRS defined benefit plan replaces—on average—about half of what our members need to maintain a reasonable lifestyle in retirement. The ability of members to easily compare and make informed investment decisions could mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars in future retirement savings.”
About CalSTRS
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, with a portfolio valued at $219.6 billion as of October 31, 2017, is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. CalSTRS administers a hybrid retirement system, consisting of traditional defined benefit, cash balance and voluntary defined contribution plans. CalSTRS also provides disability and survivor benefits. CalSTRS serves California's more than 914,000 public school educators and their families from the state’s 1,700 school districts, county offices of education and community college districts.
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