Nationwide-supported California Savings Plus and New York State Deferred Compensation Plan recognized as 2026 Plan Sponsor of the Year finalists

Trio of Nationwide associates also honored as Service Stars at PLANSPONSOR Excellence in Retirement Awards celebration

A pair of plan sponsors supported by Nationwide Retirement Solutions and three of the company's associates were among those honored at the PLANSPONSOR Excellence in Retirement Awards dinner, presented during the 2026 PLANSPONSOR National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The PLANSPONSOR Plan Sponsor of the Year annual awards program recognizes retirement plan sponsors that show an exemplary commitment to their participants' financial health and retirement success.

Nationwide serves as recordkeeper for California Savings Plus and New York State Deferred Compensation Plan (NYSDCP), both of which were Top 3 finalists for 2026 Plan Sponsor of the Year in the Government DC>$1B category.

California Savings Plus was recognized for its sweeping modernization effort and investment lineup reforms that save participants more than $24 million annually in fees.

NYSDCP's nomination stood out for the scale and precision of its major fund lineup review and a $16.3 billion transition affecting 175,000 accounts with no reported downtime or incidents.

Also during the awards program, Nationwide Retirement Solutions associates Lauren Kime, Zack Sharp and Jake Sours were honored as 2026 PLANSPONSOR Service Stars. The Service Stars program recognizes retirement plan account representatives and relationship managers who, according to their plan sponsor clients, have demonstrated exemplary service.

"Congratulations to California Savings Plus, NYSDCP and our Service Star associates Lauren, Zack and Jake on earning these prestigious industry recognitions," said Kevin Jestice, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions. "All of these honors reflect our collective dedication, innovation and participant-first focus to help drive stronger retirement outcomes every day."

Nationwide Retirement Solutions is a business within Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, that is one of the largest and strongest diversified financial services and insurance organizations in the United States. Nationwide Retirement Solutions helps secure financial futures for approximately three million participants in 30,000 retirement plans with $250 billion in assets, across full-service recordkeeping, investment solutions, and pension risk transfer¹. Nationwide remains No. 1 in public 457 plans (based on the number of plans)² with an average tenure of 29 years¹. The company also continues to maintain significant presence in private 401(k), nonprofit 403(b) markets, and pension risk transfer.

For 50 years, Nationwide has remained committed to continually improving its retirement solutions and service experience to better support individuals preparing for and living in retirement. The company offers a diversified portfolio of solutions that complement its traditional recordkeeping and education services. Nationwide's goal is to help participants prepare for retirement by providing investment solutions and services designed to support long-term growth, risk management and income planning. These offerings include mutual funds, managed accounts, pension risk transfer capabilities, fixed and stable value solutions, and lifetime income options.

Visit nrsforu.com for more information about the tools and services Nationwide provides to retirement plan participants.

NFN-2016AO

¹ Nationwide Financial (Dec 31, 2025)
² PLANSPONSOR 2025 Recordkeeping Survey