PLANADVISER - September/October 2019 - 30

When it comes to selecting recordkeepers,
the top five of 14 criteria
that advisers consider are value for
price, website tools for participants,
fee structure for the plan, investment
options available, and website tools for
plan sponsors.
As to rankings for individual firms
themselves, Fidelity Investments was
No. 1 for best overall service among
mega plans-those having more than
$1 billion in assets. Bank of America
earned that top honor among large
plans ($200 million to $1 billion) and
also midsize plans ($50 million to
$200 million). Empower Retirement
did so with small plans ($5 million to
$50 million), and Securian Financial
with micro plans (under $5 million).
Advisers rank Ascensus as
No. 1 when it comes to fee clarity,
accounting, disclosure and benchmarking.
Empower takes top honors
for web tools and functionality for
advisers. Bank of America is viewed as
the best when it comes to regulatory/
compliance support and services. It
is also seen as the leader in financial
education and wellness resources.
Milliman is considered the best in
terms of plan design flexibility and
customization.
Advisers were also asked how often
they worked with a recordkeeper: once,
a few times, several times or many
times. The three providers worked with
the most-Fidelity, Empower and Principal-had
three of the eight highest
recommendation rates in the survey,
including the two highest scores.
That said, most recordkeepers have
more advisers who are unwilling to
recommend them than advisers who
would
strongly
recommend
them.
Overall, the average Net Promoter
Score®
* for recordkeepers was -37%.
Large recordkeepers would appear
to have an advantage in regard to technology
solutions; those companies'
" best " technology solutions got significantly
higher scores than the offerings
elsewhere in the industry. -Lee Barney
*Net
Promoter
Score®
(NPS®
)
is
based
on Satmetrix Systems' methodology and
represents
the percentage of respondents
likely to recommend the provider minus the
percentage likely to recommend against it.
Top-Rated Investment Firms
Plan Sponsor Education Materials Votes
1 Fidelity Investments
Adviser Services and Support
1 American Funds
2 J.P. Morgan
3 Fidelity Investments
3 T. Rowe Price
5 BlackRock
Votes
51
49
33
33
25
Practice Management Ideas/Tools Votes
1 Fidelity Investments
2 J.P. Morgan
3 MFS
4 Invesco
5 American Funds
Industry Insight and Analysis
1 J.P. Morgan
2 Fidelity Investments
3 American Funds
4 BlackRock
4 Vanguard
54
39
36
23
19
Votes
112
63
31
20
20
Participant Educational Materials Votes
1 Fidelity Investments
2 J.P. Morgan
3 American Funds
4 Principal
5 BlackRock
Fund Fact Sheets
1 American Funds
2 Fidelity Investments
3 Vanguard
4 T. Rowe Price
5 J.P. Morgan
Investment Value for Price
1 Vanguard
2 American Funds
3 Fidelity Investments
4 BlackRock
65
37
33
26
23
Votes
61
34
28
27
23
Votes
144
104
56
22
5 DFA; T. Rowe Price; Nuveen/TIAA* 8
2 J.P. Morgan
3 Vanguard
4 American Funds
5 American Century
Reputation
1 Vanguard
2 American Funds
3 Fidelity Investments
4 J.P. Morgan
5 BlackRock
Plan Participant Support
1 Fidelity Investments
2 American Funds
3 BlackRock
4 Principal
5 J.P. Morgan
Wholesaler Knowledge
1 Fidelity Investments
2 American Funds
3 BlackRock
4 J.P. Morgan
4 PIMCO
Plan Sponsor Support
1 Fidelity Investments
2 J.P. Morgan
3 American Funds
3 Principal
5 T. Rowe Price
Quarterly Evaluation Materials
1 J.P. Morgan
2 American Funds
3 Fidelity Investments
4 T. Rowe Price
4 Vanguard
*Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), T. Rowe Price and Nuveen/TIAA are tied at #5.
60
53
21
20
19
Votes
116
91
64
26
25
Votes
81
30
26
25
23
Votes
43
35
28
25
25
Votes
79
26
21
21
16
Votes
73
40
31
16
16
30 | planadviser.com September-October 2019
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PLANADVISER - September/October 2019

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