President’s Of course, as always, we continue to focus on health benefits and retirement — but in ways probably not contemplated forty years ago. At our Policy Forum, we will ask, What Does the Future Hold for the Employment-Based Health Benefits System, an examination of whether there is an alternative to October 15, 2018 Letter the employment-based system that would produce higher-quality care, better service, and a lower price, and what that alternative might look like. And our Considerations in the Retirement Income Phase of Life (Account Balances, Income Streams, and RMDs! Oh My!) will explore how the current defined contribution system can support its first big wave of retirees — the Baby Boomers — including EBRI Turns Forty — Building on how plan sponsors are actively innovating in helping their participants transition to retirement. Excellence for a Strong Future New Membership Opportunities While we are very proud of the new look and feel of our revamped website — which we are rolling out In his iconic book Moneyball, which documents the Oakland A’s revolutionary transformation at the hands this fall — what truly takes EBRI into its fifth decade is the way the website allows members to interact of general manager Billy Beane, author Michael Lewis notes, “No matter how successful you are, change with the organization, its content, and other members. You will notice a lot more members-only content is always good. There can never be a status quo.” So, as the Employee Benefit Research Institute and resources on our website, including a member portal geared to provide centralized resource hubs for reaches an important milestone — its fortieth anniversary — we are embracing change. our busy committees, task forces, and centers. In response to interest by membership, we’ve also revamped our membership structure, creating EBRI’s Mission is Unchanged — But Our Execution of the Mission Is Evolving ... partnerships that allow members to pursue more tailored research with EBRI. Sustaining Members will EBRI’s core identity, of course, is providing the gold standard of unbiased research on employee benefits. continue to have input into our planning and research through semi-annual in-person meetings in That will not change. However, the way we deliver that research, how we engage with our members, and Washington and quarterly Research Agenda Planning and In-Progress Research webinars. Likewise, our even the breadth of the research we pursue are evolving. Public Policy Advisory Council will continue to provide feedback and input into EBRI’s policy-focused Some of the changes you may already have noticed. This year, we increased our output of research to research through its monthly meetings. Our centers will continue to act as think tanks for groups of m inc elu mde be m rs t ore o c Fast ome Fa toge ctst h th ea r t t h o pu ighlig rsue t ht kheeyir u rese nique r arch t ea sk ee aa rch wa prior ys from itie o s iu nr h Iss eau lte h Br caie re fs , re . We tire ’vm e a en lso t, and developed several user-friendly formats for our research, including Infographics, PowerPoints, and financial wellbeing. Now, however, with our partnerships, members can work with EBRI to pursue webinars that feature plan sponsors and practitioners as well as our researchers. We’ve revived our research objectives that are tailored to their specific research goals. (To learn more, contact weekly EBRIef newsletter, and we’ve added a members-only newsletter, EBRInsights, so that members washington@ebri.org.) can get early access to our research and events. We’ve extended our level of interactions with members by developing regional meetings to take EBRI research to you and by increasing the activity of our New Faces at EBRI Research Committee, including the creation of a Public Policy Advisory Council to provide feedback and EBRI has some of the most tenured research staff in the industry: Jack VanDerhei has been with us 30 input on the public policy initiatives that are important to our members. And we’ve increased our range of years, Paul Fronstin for 25 years, and Craig Copeland for 21 years. We have recently made some new research focus with our new Financial Wellbeing Research Center, which is releasing an employer survey hires that not only bring in fresh perspectives to our research, but also round out our overall staff. Kristen in the fall. Washington joined EBRI a few months ago as our member relations specialist, and Betsy Jaffe is our new More market ch in ag a nge n is o d punblic ther w ela aty ion as t s d hire e “cn tor. Ha ew” EBR ri T I hcion kka tiv na ure as t pu oj oi ada nept d us as o by deve ulopi r intneg ne rnal w te da chtnaol ba ogy ses re , source. We inte’ra vec a tin lso e g dixpa ffere nde ntld t y w hit eh ro itle s m ofe Mi mbe kership, Cross a — nd win hc o is n reasin ow g w thork e size ing a ofs a its fst ull a-ftfim . e employee on our databases, including our new ESOP database. And John Adams is now full time in our publications group. Later this fall, we look forward to adding a new research associate with experience in the Health and New Database/New Research Retirement Study. Our new associate will be tasked with continuing our important work on spending in Those who are familiar with EBRI know that our hallmark is our unbiased, fact-based research based on retirement and increasing our research in the financial wellbeing arena. our one-of-a-kind empirical databases. The EBRI/ICI 401(k) database is the largest of its kind and In con tthaein m s re ovc ieords versio onn ba ofla Mo nce ns, c eyba on llt, Bra ributio d P nit s, w t, pla ithydra ing B wae ls, loans, ane, stat a en s t d hin atv t eh st em O ea nk tla s of nd A m’ore s m tuhst a “ n 2 ada 7 m ptillio or n die part .”ic L ipa ewnis, pe ts. Our IR rhaps, p A du at t it ab a m se ore — e w loqu hich e ca ntly n: b “e … lin yk ou ed w to the ill find w 401 a(k) da ys to do t taba hse ings — m is sim uch be ilarly rob tter tha un st t w he ity h a 24 re m cu illio rrenn in tlydivid donu ea .”l a As E ccou BR ntI pa s resse pres it sen s f teort d. More ieth a re nnciv ee nrtsa ly, w ry, ou e hr vo ave w a is dde td a o be He be atltth er t Savin han e gs Acc ver. ount Database, containing records of more than 25 percent of that market. And this year we are unveiling our Financial Wellbeing Database, containing data on the ways employees engage in financial wellness initiatives such as those helping workers with emergency savings and student loan debt. EBRI’s December Policy Forum will feature our financial wellbeing research in our panel on How Financial Lori Lucas Wellness Initiatives Move the Dial, which will explore the return on investment of financial wellness initiatives with perspectives on how emergency savings, budgeting help, student loan debt assistance, President and CEO and other interventions can improve employees' financial security and employment satisfaction.