RESEARCH |
2020
Defined Benefit Administration Survey
Reported by PLANSPONSOR
| Art by Nadja Zinnecker
Providers
Mercer3
| DB CLIENT OVERVIEW | |
|---|---|
| Total DB admin clients1 | 195 |
| Full outsourcing | 42% |
| DB and DC clients | 0% |
| DB PLAN OVERVIEW | |
|---|---|
| Total DB plans | 182 |
| Frozen plans | 65% |
| Cash balance plans | 20% |
| With <100 participants | 19% |
| With >5,000 participants | 8% |
| DB PARTICIPANT OVERVIEW | |
|---|---|
| Total Participants | 292,789 |
| Private/Corporate2 | 97% |
| Public/Government | 2% |
| Retired participants | 44% |
| All interactions on web | 25% |
| SPONSOR SERVICES OFFERED | |
|---|---|
| Plan accounting / Master trust | E |
| Trust and custody services | E |
| Actuarial services | I |
| Investment management | I |
| Liability-driven investing | I |
| Investment consulting | I |
| PARTICIPANT ONLINE SERVICES | |
|---|---|
| Online initiation | Yes |
| Online elections | No |
| E-form processing | No |
| Online inquiry status | No |
| I = Internal; E = External; P = Partnership; = Supports service as of publication date; NR = Not Reported in time for publication |
| Footnote: |
| 1Includes both full outsourcing and partial outsourcing/co-sourcing arrangements; excludes investment-only, actuary-only and plan-consulting-only clients. 2 Includes both single-employer and multi-employer/Taft-Hartley plans. 3 In 2019, Mercer leadership made the strategic decision to move away from stand-alone large-market administration in the U.S. and chose Morneau Shepell as “the best alternative for our clients and people.” Mercer retained 82 DB outsourced administration clients in its mid-market Mercer Retirement Administration solution (for plans with 10,000 or fewer employees) and co-sourcing administration clients of any size. |
