Hotel Chain Checks Out of 401(k) Match

Interstate Hotels and Resorts, an Arlington, Virginia hotel owner and manager, has suspended its 401(k) match and contribution to its non-qualified deferred compensation plan for 2009.

Interstate said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that its cost-saving program, kicked off in January 2009, is expected to cut corporate expenses by $17 million for the year.

The company said the cost cutting also included:

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

  • eliminating 45 corporate positions,
  • reducing pay up to 10% for senior management,
  • placing a freeze on merit increases for all corporate employees,
  • restructuring the corporate bonus plan,
  • eliminating restricted stock grants during 2009 for the company’s board of directors, and
  • reducing all other corporate expenses, including advertising, travel, training, and employee relations expenses.

Interstate said it had also instituted broad expense cutbacks at its hotel properties.

“In order to partially mitigate the decrease in demand and maximize our ability to maintain rates, we have focused our properties’ efforts on adjusting the business mix by shifting efforts toward group sales, managing off-peak periods, and increasing sales efforts at both the local and national levels in order to capture the highest amount of available,” the company said in the SEC document.

Insurance Broker Willis Suspends 401(k) Match, Freezes Pension

Global insurance broker Willis Group holdings has put its 401(k) match on hold for 2009.

The company said the move helped its first quarter of 2009 by $3 million, and is expected to show a $9 million assist to the full year’s results.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory filing, Willis has also announced plans to freeze its U.S. defined benefit plan to future accruals as of mid-May 2009.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

From that move, Willis said it will recognize a $12 million second-quarter gain, and that it anticipates its full-year charge for the plan will be about $9 million, compared to an expected $39 million without the plan freeze, according to the filing.

“In first quarter 2009, the benefit of a stabilization in rates in the reinsurance market was more than offset by the continuing soft market in other sectors and the adverse impact of the weakened economic environment across the globe,” Willis said in the SEC document. “Our North American operations have been particularly impacted by the weakened economic environment and we have seen sharp first quarter 2009 declines in revenues from our US construction business, as many projects are postponed or cancelled. “

«