It's official! Your Vanguard 403(b) Services plan’s move to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform is complete. 
You now have access to your plan via the same sponsor site with your existing username and password.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

In 2022, Ascensus and Newport became part of a unified organization under Ascensus. Since then, we've been engaged in a thoughtful, measured, and collaborative approach that builds upon our collective strengths to deliver the best possible technology, service, and expertise to all those we serve.

Our unique approach means the award-winning Newport web experience* you and your employees value today will serve as the digital framework moving forward, even after your plan has fully migrated to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform the week of November 13. Over time, your experience will evolve with ongoing enhancements.

*DALBAR Review. Q4 2021.

We believe everyone deserves to feel financially secure. That's why Ascensus is helping more people save for a better future. With more than 40 years of experience, Ascensus is a market-leading enabler of tax-advantaged savings, trusted by more than 15 million people.

We have over $742 billion in savings assets under administration and over 5,700 associates. In the retirement business, Ascensus serves 155,500+ retirement plans.1

Ascensus is the largest independent recordkeeping services provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator in the United States.2 Our independence enables advisors and employers to build the plans, choose the investments and services, and support their participants’ retirement readiness. Ascensus is well-positioned to bring a world-class experience to you and your participants.

Shared values and commitment to client experience, accountability, collaboration, quality, and integrity in the retirement solutions space form the foundation of our unification strategy and vision.

1As of 6/30/2023.
2Cerulli Associates. The Cerulli Report: U.S. Retirement Markets 2021. March 2022.

Vanguard and Ascensus have teamed for over a decade and have proven success supporting plan sponsors and helping participants achieve retirement readiness.

Plan Migration

Technically, yes. Your plan will be migrated to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform. But with our focus on maintaining the best from each of our organizations, you'll continue to have access to key features that you are accustomed to going forward. 

You can expect a smooth journey with minimal action required from you or your participants. 

  • Your retirement program name will still be Vanguard 403(b) Services.  
  • You and your participants will log into the same website addresses using your existing username and password.  
  • Your service teams—and their phone numbers—won't change. 
  • Your plan fees will not increase.  
  • You’ll keep your existing plan investment options.  
  • Transactions will continue to process in the same timely manner they do today.   

While much of your experience will be familiar, there will be some updates. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Your sponsor and participant website experiences will evolve over time—with future enhancements to help you increase administrative efficiency, complete tasks quickly, and encourage better savings practices for your employees.  
  • The trade deadline for contributions will change to 1:00 p.m. ET.  
  • The way you submit payroll contributions will be enhanced.  
  • There will be a new mailing address where you'll send checks for transactions such as funding a contribution. (As a reminder, you cannot submit checks to pay plan fees.)
  • You’ll receive new banking instructions.  
  • The timing for invoice delivery will change.  
  • Participants will use new forms to request transactions.  
  • Your plan ID number will be updated.
  • Your dedicated relationship manager’s email address will change – refer to your plan reference sheet that will be provided after the migration is complete.   

Your plan is scheduled to migrate over the weekend, beginning November 10, 2023. 

Continuity and Enhancements

 
Plan Sponsor Experience 

Yes. Ascensus is committed to providing as much continuity as possible in your service, including keeping your dedicated client service representative/team.

In line with our phased approach to unification, we expect that the service model—like all aspects of our business—will continue to evolve over time. However, our primary goal is to deliver the highest quality service to you and your participants.

Yes. Fees as outlined in your current schedule will remain the same through migration.

Yes. Your login credentials will remain the same and your current web experience will continue to serve as the digital framework moving forward, with ongoing enhancements over time. 

Yes. As we bring forward the best of each organization, some reports will remain the same, others will be enhanced, and new options will be added. Reference this reporting overview as a helpful guide to the new reports experience.

Yes, if your plan has a financial advisor, they have been notified that your retirement plan will migrate in November.

Yes. Ascensus is an independent provider, so you will always have the freedom to choose the financial advisor for your retirement plan.

PAYROLL AND CONTRIBUTION FUNDING 

 

All contribution files and deposits made by plan sponsors (wires, ACH, checks) must be received at market close (generally 4:00 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, November 8, 2023. As of market close on November 8, the ability to load data has been disabled and payroll processing has stopped until after the migration is complete.

Whether you prefer to upload a file through the sponsor site or enter contributions manually, you will continue to be able to do so after the migration is complete. However, you will experience some changes in the process.

Yes. The deadline for same-day trading of payroll contributions received in good order and submitted by ACH has changed from 2:30 p.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET. Payroll contributions submitted after the deadline will trade on the following business day. 

Files will go through an initial set of edits prior to being transmitted to Ascensus. Once those edits are clear, files are transmitted to Ascensus and go through additional review. Any further errors will be handled internally by Ascensus and if needed, you will be contacted for error resolution.   

Yes. All participant data must be in good order prior to processing the file. After your plan migrates to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform, the errors and warnings you may be accustomed to addressing at time of file upload may be different. Ascensus will do a secondary review of your submitted file and, if needed, will contact you with any questions to complete processing your file. Please wait to fund your payroll until you receive your Automated Funding Request (AFR) via email.

Loan overpayments are removed during the payroll process. You will receive a notification with the participant(s), the overpayment amount, and a request that those funds be refunded to the participant(s). The Automated Funding Request (AFR) will reflect the reduced loan amount as well.   

Yes, the process differs depending on how you update your payroll:   

  • Manual contributions – Include/add a forfeiture participant to the file with a negative entry in the employer (ER) source that should be offset.  
  • Upload file – Instead of the above, total forfeiture amount that should be used can be entered as a control total prior to submitting payroll to Ascensus.  
  • Vendor – Contact your client service team to assist in offsetting future employer contributions. 

Refer to the 'Forfeiture Suspense Balance Report' available on your sponsor website.   

You will need to submit files separately for each payroll date. 

Ascensus automatically generates an Automated Funding Request (AFR) email to plan sponsors for every payroll file processed, but it will not be posted on the sponsor website. If you need to request any changes to who receives this notification or if a copy of the AFR is needed, contact your dedicated relationship manager directly or call your Vanguard service team at 877-893-5426 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.  

All loan IDs will remain the same after your plan migrates to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform.  

Participant Experience

We will provide participant-focused resources as we get closer to November.  

Yes, participants will continue to access their accounts the same way they do today at vanguard.com. Participants can also call the participant service center using the same phone number they do today, 800-569-4903, with any questions about their account. 

Yes. At least two years of participant financial transaction history will be accessible on the participant website. 

To ensure there are no delays to participants’ November installment payments (which are typically processed between November 8-13), we will process payments a few days early, on November 6. Once the migration is complete, future installment payments will continue according to the regular payment schedule using the ACH information we have on file. 

There will be a change to the way installment payments are debited from participants’ accounts. Following migration, installment payments will be liquidated pro-rata, or proportionally, from all the investments with a balance in their account. See example below: 

  • Participant A has 85% of their balance in Fund A, 10% of their balance in Fund B, and 5% of their balance in Fund C.  
  • Before migration, Participant A requested to liquidate the installment payment 75% from Fund A, 25% from Fund B, and 0% from Fund C. 
  • After migration, the payment will be debited based on the percentage of their total balance in each fund, meaning 85% of the payment will be liquidated from Fund A, 10% from Fund B, and 5% from Fund C. 

We’ve notified applicable participants directly. 

The option to enroll in automatic rebalancing services will be available post-migration. However, if a participant was previously enrolled, they will need to re-enroll once their account moves to the Ascensus platform. They can do so by going to Shortcuts > Schedule an Automatic Rebalance. Monthly rebalancing will no longer be an option. We’ve notified applicable participants directly.  

After the migration to the Ascensus recordkeeping platform all fund allocations must follow the same fund selection for each source.  All future investments will follow the direction established for pre-tax contributions.  If the participant does not have fund allocations set for pre-tax, their Roth or after-tax fund allocations will be used for any future contributions.  If the participant only has profit sharing fund allocations, those will continue to be used going forward. This does not affect how the participant’s current balance is invested. 

For Example:

Fund

Current Pretax Allocations

Current After-tax Allocations

Future Pretax Allocations

Future After-tax Allocations

A

20%

 

20%

20%

B

20%

 

20%

20%

C

 

50%

 

 

D

60%

 

60%

60%

E

 

50%

 

 

Last updated 11/7/2023

Questions?

Your dedicated client service representative/team is here to support you every step of the way. Feel free to reach out with any questions.