PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 42

2017 Defined Contribution Survey: Providers
Large Market: Plan Assets >$200mm - $1b
A
mong defined contribution (DC)
plans, " bigger " has not often translated
into " better " service. Historically, the
DC Survey has found that sponsor satisfaction
slumps as plan sizes increase. Not
surprisingly, this trend largely continued
in 2017, as scores were highest among the
smallest plans and lowest among the largest.
What is surprising is that net recommendation
rates in the Large Market (i.e.,
those with between $200 million and
$1 billion in total plan assets) have been
steadily increasing for the past six years-
the only market where this is true-and
reached a record 62.4% in 2017. Rising recommendation
rates were mirrored in satisfaction
scores, which were significantly
Top 5 Providers
By Net Recommendation/
Promoter Score
1
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
85%
2
Milliman, Inc.
80%
3
VALIC
71%
4
T. Rowe Price
70%
5
Charles Schwab
63%
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Best in Class
Minimum of 15 responses; Best in Class benchmark of 40%
Plan Administration
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Charles Schwab
Empower Retirement
Fidelity Investments
Milliman, Inc.
T. Rowe Price
VALIC
26
24
23
45
John Hancock Retirement Pln Svcs 21
16
20
17
higher than those reported among slightly
smaller or larger plans.
This may suggest that these plans
occupy somewhat of a sweet spot in the
market: The plan's size affords it the
luxury of having the internal resources
needed to effectively manage the plan,
and its scale allows it to secure premium
services/offering traditionally available
85% u
60%
63%
13%
57%
62%
80% u
70%
71%
62%
28%
35%
55%
69% u
65% u
57%
to only the largest of plans. For example,
average satisfaction among Large-Market
plans with investment options and fee
disclosure/clarity/value was higher than
in all other markets. The one notable area
of underperformance was sponsor technologies,
where satisfaction scores were
squarely between those of smaller and
larger plans.
Net Recommendation Rate, 2012 - 2017
47.1%
52.2%
55.9%
57.3%
57.0%
62.4%
42 PLANSPONSOR.com February-March 2018
# Responses
Recommendation likelihood
Plan transaction processing
Loan/Withdrawal processing
Beneficiary administration
Plan design flexibility
Payroll integration
% " Completely satisfied "

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PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018

25 Years of Retirement Plans
2017 DC Survey: Providers
2018 Best In Class 401(k) Plans
Trends in Risk Assets
What Lower Fees Reveal
Sandwiched Between
Nondiscrimination Testing
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Cover1
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Cover2
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 1
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 2
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 3
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 4
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 5
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 6
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 7
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PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 9
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PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 12
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 13
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 14
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 15
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 25 Years of Retirement Plans
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 17
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 18
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 19
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 20
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 21
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 22
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PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 26
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 27
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 28
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 29
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 2017 DC Survey: Providers
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 31
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 32
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 33
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 34
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 35
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 36
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 37
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PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 40
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 41
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 42
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 43
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 44
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 45
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 2018 Best In Class 401(k) Plans
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 47
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 48
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 49
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 50
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 51
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 52
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 53
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Trends in Risk Assets
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 55
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - What Lower Fees Reveal
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 57
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Sandwiched Between
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 59
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Nondiscrimination Testing
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 61
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 62
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 63
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - 64
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Cover3
PLANSPONSOR - February/March 2018 - Cover4
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