Products January 23, 2019

2018 DC Survey Standouts

Fourteen service providers to be recognized at the annual PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Awards for Excellence dinner March 28th.

Reported by

Through PLANSPONSOR’s annual Defined Contribution Survey, 14 providers received the highest marks when defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors of all size plans nationwide answered the following question: How satisfied are you with your provider?

Nearly 3,500 responses were received and tabulated, 14 companies accumulated the greatest number of service “cups” in the survey’s six main asset classes ranging from “micro” plans with less than $5 million in assets to “mega” plans with more than $1 billion in assets. They are listed below; the numbers in parentheses are the number of best-in-class (BIC) awards:

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Micro (<$5MM )

Correll Co.
Gold (20 awards)

Securian Financial
Silver (17 awards)

Ascensus
Bronze (16 awards)


Small A ($5MM–$25MM)

Securian Financial
Gold (20 awards)

Ascensus
Silver, tied (16 awards)

Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group
Silver, tied (16 awards)


Small B (>$25MM–$50MM)

Empower Retirement
Gold (21 awards)

Newport Group
Silver (20 awards)

Charles Schwab
Bronze (14 awards)


Mid (>$50MM–$200MM)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Gold (18 awards)

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
Silver (16 awards)

Charles Schwab
Bronze (14 awards)


Large (>$200MM–$1B)

Milliman, Inc.
Gold (21 awards)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Silver, tied (16 awards)

VALIC
Silver, tied (16 awards)


Mega (>$1B) 

Charles Schwab
Gold (23 awards)

Voya Financial
Silver (15 awards)

T. Rowe Price
Bronze (12 awards)


The survey results relating to provider satisfaction will be published in the February–March 2019 issue of PLANSPONSOR. The industry data from the same survey were profiled in the October–November 2018 issue of PLANSPONSOR magazine and can be viewed in the 2018 PLANSPONSOR DC Benchmarking Survey.

The companies will be recognized at the annual 2019 PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Excellence in Retirement Awards dinner event in New York City. This networking event celebrates the accomplishments of the best of the best in the retirement plan industry. Each year, the nation’s leading retirement plan sponsors and advisers, as well as the top product, investment and service providers are honored at this exclusive gathering, hosted at the beautiful Pier 60 in the Chelsea Pier complex, overlooking the Hudson River.

“We created the Awards for Excellence dinner to recognize not only the standouts in the DC provider community, but we also honor plan sponsors, advisers and investment managers that demonstrated exceptional performance in 2018,” says Alison Cooke Mintzer, editor-in-chief of PLANSPONSOR and PLANADVISER.

For more information about the dinner and list of winners, visit here.
Data and Research January 23, 2019

Generation X Not As Confident About Retirement Readiness As Baby Boomers

Both groups have saved or are on track to save $700,000 or less; however, Boomers think that is adequate savings, while Gen Xers do not.

Reported by

Seventy-five percent of Baby Boomers think they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, but this is true for only 35% of Gen X, according to a new report from Retirement Living, “Retirement Preparedness Study 2019: Baby Boomers vs. Generation X.”

Boomers are relying primarily on pensions and 401(k) plans, while Gen Xers are relying on 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Both Boomers and Gen Xers are relying or expect to rely on Social Security for a portion of their monthly income. Seventy-three percent of Boomers rely on Social Security for 25% to 100% of their monthly income—and 85% of Gen Xers expect to do the same.

Fifty percent of Boomers and Gen Xers have saved or are on track to save $700,000 or less. Generally, Boomers think that is adequate savings, while Gen Xers do not.

The survey found 65% of Boomers saving for retirement are men and 35% are female. Among Gen X, this is evenly split at 50% for each sex.

Boomers, when asked that they would have done differently with regards to their retirement savings, say investing differently or playing the stock market better, reducing spending and living on a budget, and investing more in a Roth IRA rather than a traditional IRA.

Among the 14% of pre-retirees not saving for retirement, stagnant wages, student loan debt and the cost of living were cited as reasons.

Retirement Living’s findings are based on a survey of 562 adults. More about the study may be found here.


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