Strong majorities of 403(b) plan sponsors are expanding the tools they are using to govern their plans, according to a recent report. And that applies not only to 403(b)s governed by ERISA, but also to those that are not.
More than 70% of sponsors of ERISA-governed 403(b)s have an investment committee, have an investment policy statement and employ the services of an advisor or institutional investment consultant, reports Plan Sponsor. Not only that, Plan Sponsor says that it has found in the annual defined contribution surveys it conducts that the number of 403(b) plan sponsors doing so grows each year.
Drilling down, the percentages of ERISA-covered 403(b)s doing so have grown as follows:
| Governance Feature | % With, 2016 | % With, 2017 | % With, 2018 |
| Investment Committee | 76.6 | 86.1 | 87.9 |
| Investment Policy Statement | 73.0 | 73.0 | 80.0 |
| Services of an Advisor or Institutional Investment Consultant | 59.2 | 71.8 | 73.3 |
While not as strong majorities of non-ERISA 403(b)s employ such practices, a sizable majority still do:
| Governance Feature | % With, 2016 | % With, 2017 | % With, 2018 |
| Investment Committee | 54.3 | 67.3 | 67.0 |
| Investment Policy Statement | 50.0 | 60.0 | 60.0 |
Plan Sponsor also says that for majorities of both kinds of 403(b)s, investment policy statements cover target date funds and their underlying funds: 62.2% of ERISA 403(b)s in 2018, up by 2.6 percentage points, and 66.2% of non-ERISA 403(b)s, up 11.8 percentage points.
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