HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) received national recognition for its personalized approach to helping Defined Contribution (DC) Plan members understand their evolving retirement needs.
The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators awarded PSERS with its national Leadership Award for its promotion of holistic financial wellness to Defined Contribution (DC) Plan members through innovative financial wellness messaging.
“Our new approach aligns with PSERS’ vision to provide exceptional levels of service and explore innovative ways to enhance the customer experience,” said PSERS Executive Director Uri Monson. “Our goal is to provide members with the right information at the right time so they can make informed decisions throughout their retirement journey.”
Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, PSERS created educational tracks to enable specific, targeted messaging based on members’ tenure in the DC Plan and their level of engagement. These groups of DC Plan members include new participants, members in their second and third years, members with four or more years in the plan, highly engaged members, and retired or former employees. Monthly emails to these groups build upon themes from previous months, and the themes become more advanced as members move through different groups.
“As our Defined Contribution Plan continues to grow, we are committed to expanding educational opportunities that help members better understand their retirement benefits and enhance their overall financial wellness,” said Jennifer Mills, PSERS Deputy Executive Director and Director of Defined Contribution Investments. “By targeting our messaging, we equip members with relevant knowledge and resources to build greater confidence in planning for their financial future.”
The strategy is producing measurable results, with members engaging more frequently with PSERS’ retirement planning resources.
Compared to the same period before the targeted messaging, PSERS saw a 27% increase in unique mobile app usage and a 15% increase in unique member website usage in 2025.
Additionally, more than 1.3 million financial wellness emails were delivered to DC Plan members in 2025. The campaign achieved a 49% email open rate and a 6% click-through rate, both exceeding industry benchmarks for financial services organizations and government retirement plans.
To learn more about PSERS’ award-winning effort, read the award nomination.
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About the Board of Trustees
The 15-member Board of Trustees is an independent administrative board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The board stands in a fiduciary relationship to PSERS’ members regarding investments and disbursements of the system’s funds. The board’s other functions outlined in the Public School Employees’ Retirement Code include certifying contribution rates, authorizing the system’s actuarial valuation and independent audit, publishing an annual financial statement, and overseeing the operational activities performed by the system’s executive director and chief investment officer.
About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new benefit options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of June 30, 2025, PSERS had a total net position of about $83.7 billion and a membership of about 262,000 active, 255,000 annuitants and beneficiaries, and 26,000 vested inactive members.