PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2021 - 28

RESEARCH | 2021 RECORDKEEPING SURVEY
401(k) Plans
Total 401(k) Plan Assets, Plans and Participants
$6.81t
$4.93t
$4.29t
Total assets
$6.81t
$4.27t
$3.19t
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
612,130

Total plans
612,130
461,132
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
76,015,115
70,095,122

Total participants
76,015,115
F
60,288,354
56,119,932
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
60,717,678
531,749
499,337
8 Prudential Retirement
9 Schwab Retirement Plan Svcs
10 Bank of America Corp.
11 Conduent
12 John Hancock
13 Transamerica
14 ADP Retirement Services
15 Ascensus
or plan sponsors, 401(k)s mean a lot
of choice in terms of recordkeeper
options available. The harder decisions,
says Brian O'Keefe, PLANSPONSOR
director of research and surveys, are: How
should you differentiate between providers
that offer different value propositions: asset
managers vs. banks vs. insurance companies
vs. administrators? Do you use a thirdparty
administrator (TPA) for some plan
work, or bundle with the recordkeeper?
What about bundling payroll or health savings
account (HSA) platforms?
The SageView Advisory Group LLC
request for proposals (RFP) management
team maintains a database of over 200
potential RFP questions, says Managing
28 PLANSPONSOR.COM June - July 2021
Director Jon Chambers, with the firm in
Moraga, California. With RFPs for a large,
complex 401(k), the firm might use 100 to
150 of the questions; for a smaller 401(k)
with a mainstream investment and plan
design, it might use 40 to 50.
Chambers typically asks each vendor
how much the number of participants in
its plans has grown in the past 10 years, and
also how much the numbers have declined.
" If there are several years of participant
headcount contraction, that could indicate
problems retaining clients, " he says.
" We don't ask questions about specific
investment lineups, " he notes. " As investment
advisers, we anticipate creating a new
plan menu after the RFP is complete. We
$217b
$199b
$188b
$184b
$158b
$128b
$94.3b
$93.9b
545,041
5 Principal Financial Group
6 Voya Financial
7 T. Rowe Price
$344b
$258b
$225b
Largest Providers, by
Total 401(k) Plan Assets
1
Fidelity Investments
2 Empower Retirement
3 Vanguard
4 Alight Solutions
$2.43t
$775b
$505b
$462b
do ask about investment flexibility. "
The question list continues to evolve,
Chambers says. Besides asking about
service standards, recordkeeping systems,
payroll interface and fee models, SageView
now also seeks to know, for instance:
* In the past five years, has your firm
experienced a cybersecurity or physical
security breach, in which an unauthorized
person or entity accessed your
environment/s, that required notification
be sent to plan sponsor/s or participant/s?
* What diversity and inclusion statistics
are relevant for your organization,
and what initiatives has your firm taken
to further its diversity and inclusiveness?
-PS
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2021

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