PLANSPONSOR - December 2021 - January 2022 - 23

2021 PLANSPONSOR BEST IN CLASS DC PROVIDERS
to cyber risk management. " Many recordkeeper folks will check
the box but have no idea what they're doing, " he says.
" Providers all have great answers on an RFP, but the
discernment is along the lines of utilization, " Scheinberg says.
" Just because a recordkeeper offers two-factor authentication
doesn't mean it promotes it and people use it. Thus, if you offer
great cybersecurity but only 6% of your population uses it, then
you don't have cybersecurity. It's how well it's woven into your
infrastructure that's important. "
It is useful to evaluate all ancillary services that a recordkeeper
provides, Buckmann says. " Many plan sponsors will want
to consider outsourcing administration to a true 3(16) fiduciary
administrator or outsourcing investment selection to a 3(38)
investment manager, which will assume fiduciary responsibility
for selecting the investments, " she says. " The availability of onestop
shopping is a differentiating factor. "
Participant Services
The advisers surveyed by the SPARK Institute ranked participant
services as the second most important recordkeeper service
to advisers. From his experience, Scheinberg says, digitalized
communication programs for plan participants have become a
major " daylight issue. " Is the recordkeeper on multi-level platforms?
Does it reach out to participants? How customized and
individualized are the systems?
Offering multilingual communications for non-native
English speakers has become important in many markets. " It's
about having, for example, specific Spanish messaging, not just a
translation, " and therefore communicating with specific cultural
demographics by way of their own vernacular, Scheinberg says.
" If you're not communicating to your specific employee
base in a way that will lead them to outcomes, that's an issue of
access, " he continues. " Then you aren't helping the employees,
and you're not accomplishing your goals. "
Technology and investing in the more client-facing parts
of the recordkeeping interface are also things the sponsor can
dig into. For its participants, statements such as those updating
them on their account status and retirement readiness; the plan
website; and especially the availability of data are differentiators.
" How can a participant model his retirement? " says
Scheinberg. " The more automated and robust the input of plan
data-balances, contribution rate, plan feature usage, etc.-the
more meaningful the planning outcome the participant will get.
Plus, it's important for recordkeepers to have the ability to actually
cull, then make use of, external account data from a 401(k)
plan, a previous IRA [individual retirement account] or even
nonqualified personal investments. "
For the sponsor, " being able to dissect plan utilization
demographics enables it to create education and communication
campaigns that will affect participant outcomes, " he says.
-Judy Faust Hartnett
METHODOLOGY
THE 2021 PLANSPONSOR DEFINED CONTRIBUTION (DC) Survey
summarizes plan sponsor satisfaction with DC recordkeeper
offerings in 12 areas of service covering four broad categories:
Recordkeeping Platform; Participant Services; Sponsor
Services and Support; and Investments and Fees. Responses
were gathered via an online questionnaire from September
through November. A total of 1,684 responses factored into the
analysis for Best in Class providers.
To qualify for inclusion in the published results, a provider
had to meet quotas in each of six asset-based markets. A total
of 15 providers qualified for listing in at least one market. A
complete list of DC plan recordkeepers may be found in the
2021 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey, available at
plansponsor.com/research; free registration is required.
Best in Class Awards are based on sponsor satisfaction
within a given area of service. Ratings were derived from the
percentage of respondents " completely satisfied " (9 or 10 on a
10-point scale) less those that were " dissatisfied " (6 or less). The
three highest-scoring providers in the Micro and Small Market
- A groupings and the two highest-scoring providers in all other
markets earned a Best in Class Award, as did those providers
with a net satisfaction rate above the 70% benchmark score.
Service Commendations
were given to recordkeepers that
did not receive Best in Class honors but exhibited strong client
satisfaction within a service attribute-i.e., more than 70% of
clients were " completely satisfied " with the service offering.
Results are presented by market to reflect differences
in the competitive landscape. For more information, email
surveys@issmediasolutions.com.
Net Promoter®
Score
PLANSPONSOR uses a modified version of Satmetrix Systems'
Net Promoter System (NPS®
) to measure sponsor satisfaction.
NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers
that are " detractors, " giving a score of 6 or less, from the
percentage that are " promoters, " giving a 9 or 10. The thinking
is that this measure assigns equal importance to clients that
love a company's product or services and to those that are less
happy-and possibly at risk of leaving for a competitor that
offers something better. " Passives " -7s and 8s-are thought
to be only somewhat satisfied and do not influence the final
score. A score of 70% has become a benchmark for " best in the
industry, " which matches the Best in Class benchmark used
in PLANSPONSOR's DC Survey. For additional information,
please visit netpromotersystem.com.
*Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS
and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain &
Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.
PLANSPONSOR.COM December 2021 - January 2022 23
http://www.plansponsor.com/research http://www.netpromotersystem.com http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - December 2021 - January 2022

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