Earlier this month, DePaul announced effective on or around July 1, Fidelity will become the single service provider for receiving contributions and providing plan services for DePaul's 403(b) Retirement Plan. All future contributions to the plan will be made to accounts at Fidelity, including employee pre-tax deferrals as well as the university matching contributions. All eligible custodial mutual funds will move from TIAA to Fidelity. All annuity holdings will be retained at TIAA. The decision for this transition was based on years of careful monitoring and evaluation of Fidelity's ability to meet the needs of all the participants in DePaul's 403(b) plan. Since October 2017 when Fidelity became the provider for all new 403(b) plan enrollments, Fidelity has demonstrated its ability to operate our plan and to do so at materially lower participant costs, all in service of our goal of helping faculty and staff achieve a successful retirement.
For current Fidelity participants, no action is required during this transition. As a current Fidelity participant, your balance in the plan will remain at Fidelity and you will continue to manage your account as you do now. However, this is a good time to review your investment elections and retirement goals to ensure you are on track. Some investment options will be changing in order to provide lower expenses to all participants. An overview of any fund changes will be mailed to you in mid-May 2021 outlining any changes that may take place in your account.
For current TIAA participants, no action is required for your mutual fund holdings to be transferred to Fidelity. All participants who do not already have an account with Fidelity will need to complete a beneficiary designation and an investment election. If you have no investment election on file at Fidelity, your balance will be invested in the appropriate Target Retirement Fund based on your year of birth until you make an affirmative election. You will receive a detailed fund change notice at your mailing address of record in mid-May 2021. This document will contain more detailed information about which holdings at TIAA will transfer to Fidelity and which will remain with TIAA.
To assist all plan participants before this change occurs on or around July 1, detailed information can be found at www.myfidelitysite.com/depaul. This site includes an extensive list of answers to frequently asked questions as well as information on how to register for an upcoming webinar that DePaul will host to explain the process and to answer questions about how the transition will occur.
Employees also can meet with representatives from Fidelity and TIAA for complementary one-on-one meetings. These meetings with Fidelity and TIAA will be available during and after the transition in July 2021.
All plan participants are encouraged to learn more about this change and take any steps necessary to support their individual retirement goals.