Surveys

2024 PLANSPONSOR 403(b) Market Survey

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.

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  1. 2022
  2. 2021
  3. 2019

2024 Best in Class DC Providers

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2022
  2. 2021
  3. 2020

2024 Defined Benefit Administration Survey

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2021
  2. 2020
  3. 2019

2020 PLANADVISER Micro Plan Survey

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.

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2023 DC Plan Benchmarking Survey

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2021
  2. 2020
  3. 2019

2021 Health Savings Account Survey

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.

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  1. 2016

2018 Managed Account Buyer’s Guide

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2013
  2. 2012

2023 PLANSPONSOR NQDC Market Survey

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2021
  2. 2019
  3. 2017

2023 PLANSPONSOR Participant Survey

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2021
  2. 2020
  3. 2019

2024 Recordkeeping Survey

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.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2022
  2. 2021
  3. 2020

2018 Stock Plan Administration Buyer's Guide

PLANSPONSOR looks at the various stock plan administrator's available to sponsors. The profiles included in this guide highlight where providers deliver key tax/reporting/compliance services via "in-house" resources while others may offer similar services through a third party (or a choice or either option).

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  1. 2008

2021 Target-Date Fund Survey

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.

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  1. 2017
  2. 2015
  3. 2013

2016 Third–Party Administrator Buyer’s Guide

Third Party Administrators, or TPA's, help employers manage their retirement plans. A retirement plan TPA will help you with the design and administration of your employee retirement plan, and also help you fulfill your employer tax obligations.

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2016 Third-Party Administrator Survey

Third Party Administrator (or TPA) firms are hired by 401(k) plan sponsors to the run day-to-day aspects of retirement plans in lieu of a recordkeeper. The PLANSPONSOR Third Party Administrator Survey respondents represent more than 175,000 plan and 12.5 participants in various types of employer-sponsored retirement plans.

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2014 Transition Management Survey

While there are not as many providers of portfolio transition management services as there are, say, defined contribution providers, this is an extremely competitive field and the stakes are high. The survey serves two purposes: first, to take the pulse of pensions and other institutional investors which use transition management; and second, to highlight all the providers in the field.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2011
  2. 2010
  3. 2009

2013 TRO Buyer's Guide

Time was when a "bundled" solution could not be delivered efficiently or effectively unless all the parts came from the same entity—no more. This bundled concept has, for the last several years, been presented under the banner of Total Retirement Outsourcing, or TRO. The Buyer’s Guide presents the providers of TRO services—which types and sizes of clients they service, and products offered.

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PAST SURVEYS
  1. 2011
  2. 2010
  3. 2009