PLANSPONSOR - December/January 2020 - 27

RESEARCH | 2019 PLANSPONSOR BEST IN CLASS DC PROVIDERS
SMALL MARKET - B: PLAN ASSETS >$25mm - $50mm
AT A GLANCE, the Small Market - B segment might seem to be just
an extension of the neighboring Small - A, given that all nine qualifying
providers were listed in both markets. And, as in its sister
market, service satisfaction was very high in 2019, as evidenced
by the fact that average net satisfaction increased in the Small - A
segment in all but one service category. Across all providers, sponsors
that were " completely satisfied " outnumbered those that were
" dissatisfied " by a ratio of 20 to 1.
This outcome is surprising in that it runs counter to the
long-established trend of sponsor satisfaction declining as plan
size increases. In 2018, the Small - B segment saw material drops
in satisfaction with plan administration and participant services,
particularly with print/digital education campaigns and advice/
guidance offerings, which were among the lowest ratings for
any service in any market in that year's survey. Conversely, 2019
saw large jumps in satisfaction with most communications and
education offerings, and those scores now top all markets in
terms of satisfaction with those services.
It is unclear whether these results are a one-year anomaly
or indicative of a new trend, but it is clear that this market is
growing increasingly competitive.
Top 5 Small Market - B Providers
By Net Recommendation/Promoter Score
1 Newport Group
2 Charles Schwab
3 Bank of America
4 OneAmerica
5 Ascensus
Net Recommendation Rate, 2015 - 2019
74.1%
63.8%
2015
61.8%
2016
65.5%
63.3%
2017
2018
2019
Other providers and their recommendation percentage
listed in this market: Empower Retirement (82.6%); The Standard
(81.0%); Transamerica Retirement Solutions (57.9%); Voya
Financial (75.0%)
Service Satisfaction for Top 5 Providers
Ordered by Net Recommendation/Promoter Score
= Best in Class
Plan Administration
1 OneAmerica
2 Ascensus
3 Empower Retirement
4 Bank of America
5 Voya Financial
Technology
1 Empower Retirement
2 Ascensus
3 Voya Financial
4 Charles Schwab
5 Newport Group
90.0%
88.9%
86.4%
84.0%
83.3%
Participant Education
1 Voya Financial
2 Ascensus
3 OneAmerica
4 Empower Retirement
5 Charles Schwab
Sponsor Services
1 Ascensus
2 Bank of America
3 Empower Retirement
3 OneAmerica
5 Voya Financial
Investment/Fees
1 Ascensus
2 OneAmerica
3 Empower Retirement
4 Voya Financial
5 Charles Schwab
% >8 out of 10 # of s
87.9%
84.8%
82.4%
82.0%
80.2%
5
5
5
5
4
% >8 out of 10 # of s
82.5%
80.0%
78.6%
70.7%
70.4%
6
6
6
4
4
% >8 out of 10 # of s
77.7%
75.7%
75.3%
75.0%
73.4%
6
5
5
6
5
% >8 out of 10 # of s
98.3%
92.4%
92.3%
92.3%
85.7%
3
3
3
3
3
% >8 out of 10 # of s
88.7%
86.0%
84.0%
81.9%
81.3%
3
3
3
2
3
PLANSPONSOR.COM December 2019 - January 2020 27
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PLANSPONSOR - December/January 2020

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