Latest Surveys

PLANSPONSOR and retirement service provider Newport surveyed employers about their nonqualified deferred compensation plans. The data reveal trends in plan design, funding and administration, plus areas to improve. Among other findings: sponsors’ satisfaction with plan features and with plans’ ability to meet sponsor goals.

Nonqualified deferred compensation plans are under their own set of regulations and require their own expertise. Our NQDC Market Survey ranks this market’s providers, listing the top 10 by: total plans, per type; total participants; total liabilities; number of technical experts on staff; and more.

403(b) plans are in many ways the same as traditional corporate 401(k) plans, but they also present unique challenges. The 403(b) Market Survey profiles the providers of these plans, noting the market segments each focuses on and the services it supplies to its 403(b) plan sponsor clients.

Like our Recordkeeping Survey on the defined contribution side of the retirement plan market, the Defined Benefit Administration Survey showcases providers on the DB side: who the major players are, whom they serve and what services they provide. It includes information on the size of the overall DB plan market.

Complementing our Defined Contribution Survey, which measures DC clients’ satisfaction with their providers, our Recordkeeping Survey profiles 45 providers and notes the types of products and services each supplies. Containing numerous “Top 10” lists, the survey ranks each provider by total assets, participants and plans, per plan type.

Drawn from our annual survey of defined contribution plan sponsors, the industry benchmark for rating DC plan providers, these listings reflect clients’ Top 5 provider choices in a range of categories—services and support, recordkeeping platform, plan administration, and investments and fees—for six sizes of plans, by assets.

The Defined Contribution Plan Benchmarking report comprises data from the thousands of DC plan sponsors that responded to our annual DC Survey. The bellwether for industry benchmarking on plan design and administration, it’s a study in contrasts, demonstrating some surprising similarities among plans of different sizes.

The PLANSPONSOR Participant Survey examines the attitudes and behaviors of American workers participating—or not—in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Besides gathering data about savings rates, employer expectations and confidence levels, etc., it asks what participants would really want if given a choice of employer offerings.

In an easy-to-use format for quick reference, our Target-Date Fund Survey lists both off-the-shelf and custom TDF providers, giving a profile of the products they provide. Providers are ranked by TDF market share, and performance information is included.

Health savings accounts are increasingly considered a retirement savings vehicle for medical expenses post-employment. Our HSA Survey presents profiles of HSA program providers based on variables such as average account balance, options for making withdrawals, provider fees, total accounts and assets, etc.

The DC Micro Plan Survey looks at the many services that retirement plan advisers offer micro plans—i.e., those with under $5 million in assets—as well as the extent to which these plans have adopted design features and best practices used by larger plans.

By most accounts, defined contribution plan participants are increasingly turning to a professionally managed asset-allocation solution, be it a target-date fund, traditional target-risk fund or a managed account advisory program. The Managed Account Buyer’s Guide lists the providers of these products and explains how each company’s products work.