Technology Participant Education Sponsor Services Investment/Fees 58% l 53% 62% u 73% u l 34% 65% u 41% l 37% 27% l 43% 53% of the five subcategories of service. This was the largest observed decline in plan administration scores found in the survey. Some of this likely reflects growing pains as plan complexity and transaction volumes increase, which may open the door to potential processing errors and invite headaches over other data issues. Sponsors also reported growing dissatisfaction with various aspects of participant support. Most notably, satisfaction with participant advice and guidance offerings fell almost 30% while ratings for print/digital education campaigns were equally poor-the rankings for both were among the lowest in the survey. Such findings highlight the transitional nature of this market-one where the characteristic high-touch, personalized services are slowly being replaced with more scalable 54% 58% u 52% 69% u l 42% 56% 50% 44% 40% 57% u 52% and automated solutions. Amid the shifting satisfaction with some areas of service, sponsor sentiment concerning investment options and plan 88% u 89% u 73% 82% u 70% l 78% 72% 74% 43% 66% 73% 59% 13 59% 11 69% u 14 81% u 21 45% 3 75% u 20 68% 50% 43% 68% 58% 6 4 2 1 1 1 2 3 fees is nearly identical to that of Small - A plans, suggesting that the market forces driving improvement in these areas among large plans have yet to filter downmarket. Net Recommendation Rate, 2012 - 2018 61.9% 65.1% 60.2% 63.8% 61.8% 65.5% 63.3% 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 PLANSPONSOR.com December 2018-January 2019 33 Participant call centers Participant website Mobile apps/offerings Sponsor website Plan reporting Plan analytics/benchmarking % " Completely satisfied " Participant statements Enrollment materials/support Print/Digital campaigns On-site meetings/support Advice/Guidance tools Financial education offerings % " Completely satisfied " Plan/Industry knowledge Responsiveness/Consistency Regulatory/Compliance svcs % " Completely satisfied " Range of investment options Fee clarity/transparency Cost to value of plan fees % " Completely satisfied " # Best in Class # Service Commendationshttp://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2018-january_2019/TrackLink.action?pageName=33&exitLink=http%3A%2F%2FPLANSPONSOR.com