RESEARCH |
2019
DC Survey: Plan Benchmarking
Data Sweep: Our latest findings on DC plans—for benchmarking a plan against its peers or just gleaning some new solutions
Reported by PLANSPONSOR
| Art by Daniel Shaffer
2019 Survey
Fees
Understanding plan fees has long been a concern for sponsors, which may be why 78% calculated their administrative fees in the past year. However, improvements in fee disclosure and transparency have reduced the perceived need to benchmark fees, as less than half (48%) did so this year, vs. 55% in 2017. Participants continue to bear most responsibility for recordkeeping fees but also benefit from falling investment management fees—65% of plans now have an average asset-weighted expense ratio of less than 0.50%, a material increase from the 54% of plans in 2017.
Who Pays Recordkeeping Fees
- Plan only – Via participant accounts
- Employer only – Paid outside of plan
- Both plan and employer
Average Asset-Weighted Investment Expense Ratio
- <0.25%
- >0.25% – 0.50%
- >0.50% – 0.75%
- >0.75% – 1.00%
- >1.00%
