2018 DC Survey Standouts

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:

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)

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.