2018 403(b) Buyer’s Guide
403(b) plans are in many ways the same as traditional corporate 401(k) plans, but they also have many unique challenges. The 403(b) Buyer’s Guide shows the providers who service this market, what they focus on in terms of market segment, and the services they provide to 403(b) plan sponsors.
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2018 DC Survey: Recordkeepers
For nearly two decades, PLANSPONSOR's annual Defined Contribution Survey has been the most important industry benchmark, measuring and evaluating 401(k) and other DC providers according to feedback from their own clients. Major defined contribution providers are rated in the various client categories they serve, and benchmark information is collected for plan sponsors to gauge their plans against their peers.
2019 Defined Benefit Administration Survey
Like our Recordkeeping Survey on the defined contribution side of the market, the DB Administration Survey showcases providers in the DB market—who the major players are, who they serve, what services they provide. Also included is information on overall market sizing.
2019 PLANADVISER Micro Plan Survey
A look at the many services that retirement plan advisers provide to micro plans, i.e. those with less than $5 million in assets, particularly review of fund performance and plan investment selection guidance.
2018 DC Survey: Plan Benchmarking
PLANSPONSOR's Defined Contribution Survey - Industry Trends gathers data from thousands of plan sponsors about their plan design and administration, providing industry benchmarks. The survey is a study in contrasts and a demonstration of some surprisingly striking similarities among plans of varying sizes.
2018 Health Savings Account Buyer's Guide
With HSA's increasingly described as a retirement savings vehicle for medical expenses, PLANSPONSOR'S guide provides guidance on HSA providers. This greater valuing of health insurance by employees, coupled with growing health care costs that continue to surpass the rate of inflation, has increased employers’ adoption of health savings accounts (HSAs) alongside consumer-directed high-deductible health care plans (HDHPs).
2018 Managed Account Buyer’s Guide
By most accounts, defined contribution plan participants are increasingly turning to professionally managed asset-allocation solutions, whether they be a single target-date fund, a single traditional target-risk fund or a managed account advisory program. The Managed Account Buyer’s Guide is a snapshot list of the providers of managed account products, and how they differentiate themselves
2017 NQDC Provider Snapshot
It is not surprising to find a certain nexus between the administrative underpinnings of today's deferred comp programs and that of the most widely utilized deferred compensation arrangement: the 401(k) plan. In fact, the services offered to participants in deferred compensation programs are much like those offered to qualified plans. This buyer’s guide provides a listing of which plan types, financing vehicles and service channels each provider offers as well as a survey of plan sponsors' experiences with deferred compensation plans.
2019 Participant Survey
The PLANSPONSOR Participant Survey examines the attitudes and behaviors of American workers participating—or not—in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. It gathers data about savings rates, employer expectations and confidence levels, among other measures.
2019 Recordkeeping Survey
As a complement to our Defined Contribution Survey - which measures how satisfied DC clients are with their providers - our annual Recordkeeping Survey gives employers the chance to see exactly which products and services each provider offers, as well as listing information on total assets and overall client demographics. This survey, as opposed to the DC survey, is comprised of data collected from the providers themselves.
2018 Stock Plan Administration Buyer's Guide
PLANSPONSOR looks at the various stock plan administrator's available to sponsors. The profiles included in this guide highlight where providers deliver key tax/reporting/compliance services via "in-house" resources while others may offer similar services through a third party (or a choice or either option).
2019 Target-Date Fund Survey
In the past decade, and particularly since the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, asset allocation funds—which include target-date and target-risk funds—have exploded both in terms of number of products and assets amassed. The Target-Date Fund Survey endeavors to present these funds in an easy to use format for quick reference.
2016 Third–Party Administrator Buyer’s Guide
Third Party Administrators, or TPA's, help employers manage their retirement plans. A retirement plan TPA will help you with the design and administration of your employee retirement plan, and also help you fulfill your employer tax obligations.
2016 Third-Party Administrator Survey
Third Party Administrator (or TPA) firms are hired by 401(k) plan sponsors to the run day-to-day aspects of retirement plans in lieu of a recordkeeper. The PLANSPONSOR Third Party Administrator Survey respondents represent more than 175,000 plan and 12.5 participants in various types of employer-sponsored retirement plans.
2014 Transition Management Survey
While there are not as many providers of portfolio transition management services as there are, say, defined contribution providers, this is an extremely competitive field and the stakes are high. The survey serves two purposes: first, to take the pulse of pensions and other institutional investors which use transition management; and second, to highlight all the providers in the field.
2013 TRO Buyer's Guide
Time was when a "bundled" solution could not be delivered efficiently or effectively unless all the parts came from the same entity—no more. This bundled concept has, for the last several years, been presented under the banner of Total Retirement Outsourcing, or TRO. The Buyer’s Guide presents the providers of TRO services—which types and sizes of clients they service, and products offered.