PLANADVISER - September/October 2019 - 39

The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Qualified plan adviser votes
Somewhat favorable
Not favorable
24%
46%
30%
27%
25%
37%
11%
Voya Financial
Wells Fargo
217
Overall perception among qualified advisers
Very favorable
Qualified plan adviser votes
Somewhat favorable
Not favorable
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times
Worked with several times
Worked with a few times
Worked with once
Key service categories
Overall service to micro plans
Overall service to small plans
Participant website and online tools
Sponsor website and reporting
Regulatory and compliance support
Fee clarity and disclosure
Value for price
Plan design flexibility/customization
Adviser sales/marketing support
Web tools/functionality for advisers
Fee structure for advisers
7 votes
5 votes
7 votes
11 votes
6 votes
38 votes
42 votes
6 votes
6 votes
2 votes
19 votes
21%
40%
39%
23%
16%
37%
24%
222
Overall perception among qualified advisers
Very favorable
Qualified plan adviser votes
9%
129
Overall perception among qualified advisers
Very favorable
Somewhat favorable
Not favorable
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times
Worked with several times
Worked with a few times
Worked with once
Key service categories
Overall service to micro plans
Overall service to small plans
Participant website and online tools
Sponsor website and reporting
Regulatory and compliance support
Fee clarity and disclosure
Value for price
Plan design flexibility/customization
Adviser sales/marketing support
Web tools/functionality for advisers
Fee structure for advisers
38 votes
20 votes
19 votes
13 votes
11 votes
17 votes
26 votes
15 votes
28 votes
17 votes
22 votes
12%
79%
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times
Worked with several times
Worked with a few times
Worked with once
9%
23%
39%
29%
Key service categories
Overall service to micro plans
Overall service to small plans
Participant website and online tools
Sponsor website and reporting
Regulatory and compliance support
Fee clarity and disclosure
Value for price
Plan design flexibility/customization
Adviser sales/marketing support
Web tools/functionality for advisers
Fee structure for advisers
0 votes
3 votes
1 votes
3 votes
1 votes
4 votes
2 votes
4 votes
0 votes
0 votes
1 votes
Want to See
More Information
From This or
Other Surveys?



Online:
We have more Retirement Plan Adviser
Survey data on PLANADVISER.com
in the Research section (requires free
registration).
Excel Data:
Even more data is available with the
purchase of an Excel file of the full
Retirement Plan Adviser Survey dataset.
Also available for other surveys.
Contact:
Michelle.Judkins@issgovernance.com
for pricing and data points included in
the Excel file and PDF Reprints.
2018 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey
Industry Trends
Top Criteria Used to Decide Which Funds
Are Appropriate for Plans
1ST
1 Performance vs. benchmarks
2 Performance (5-year return)
3 Fee structure for plan
4 Plan demographics
5 Sharpe ratio
6 Manager tenure
7 Share class availability
8 Style drift
9 Performance - 1-year return
10 Brand
11 Total assets
11 Adviser support
11 Fee structure for adviser
14 Supporting materials
2ND 1ST OR 2ND
44.0% 28.0% 72.0%
20.5% 16.5% 37.0%
14.0% 19.0% 33.0%
6.5% 4.5% 11.0%
5.0% 14.0% 19.0%
4.5% 10.0% 14.5%
3.0% 4.0% 7.0%
2.5% 3.0% 5.5%
1.0% 3.0% 4.0%
1.0% 1.5% 2.5%
0.5% 0.0% 0.5%
0.5% 0.0% 0.5%
0.0% 0.5%
0.5%
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Top Criteria Used to Decide Which Recordkeepers
Are Appropriate for Plan
1ST
1 Value for price
2 Fee structure for plan
3 Investment options available
4 Website tools for participants
5 Participant education
2ND 1ST OR 2ND
46.8% 17.1% 63.9%
27.3% 13.7% 41.0%
9.3% 19.0% 28.3%
3.4% 20.5% 23.9%
2.0% 9.3% 11.2%
6 Supporting materials for plan sponsors 2.9% 4.9% 7.8%
7 Reputation
8 Adviser support
9 Adviser support/value-added services 2.0% 2.4%
10 Website tools for plan sponsors
11 Brand recognition
12 Fee structure for adviser
12 Recommendation by ho
14 Wholesal
2.9% 2.9% 5.9%
2.4% 2.9% 5.4%
4.4%
0.5% 3.9% 4 4%
0.5% 2
1 Vanguard
2 American Funds
3 T. Rowe Price
4 Fidelity
5 J.P. Morgan
6 BlackRock
7 PIMCO
8 MFS
9 American Century
10 Oppenheimer
11 DFA
12 TIAA-CREF
13 Le
1 Vanguard S&P 500 Index
2 American Funds Euro Pacific Growth
3 American Funds Target Date Series
4 T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth
5 Vanguard Target Date Series
6 T. Rowe Price Target Date Funds
7 PIMCO Income Fund
8 Western Asset Core Plus Bond Fund
9 Fidelity S&P 500 Fund
10 American Funds American Balanced Fund
Mutual Funds Advisers Most Often Recommend
To Plan Sponsors (168 advisers voting; 773 total votes)
VOTES
57
38
28
27
26
23
20
18
14
12
Top 20 Fund Families Preferred by Plan Advisers*
1ST
TOP 5
VOTES
129
125
99
75
65
62
33
28
22
22
TOP
5%
71%
69%
54%
41%
36%
34%
18%
15%
12%
12
PLACE
VOTES
46
47
22
6
10
17
1
4
1ST
PLACE
25%
26%
12%
3%
5%
9%
1%
0%
%
34%
23%
17%
16%
15%
14%
12%
11%
8%
7%
2018 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey
Plan Adviser Experience With vs. Perception of Plan Providers
Among 236 retirement plan advisers, regardless of their experience with the provider (see methodology on page 2).
Key
EXPERIENCE
Worked with many times
Worked with a few times
Worked with once
Never worked with
PERCEPTION
Very favorable
Somewhat favorable
Not favorable
No opinion
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
16%
26%
14%
43%
7%
16%
36%
41%
John Hancock Ret Plan Svcs
48%
42%
6%
4%
27%
48%
19%
6%
Newport Group
26%
36%
17%
20%
14%
38%
25%
24%
Prudential Retirement
34%
31%
15%
19%
29%
37%
13%
22%
T. Rowe Price
30%
39%
12%
19%
33%
40%
7%
ADP Retirement Services
47%
34%
10%
10%
10%
39%
43%
8%
Charles Schwab
33%
21%
14%
33%
26%
39%
6%
29%
Lincoln Financial Group
22%
33%
20%
25%
12%
31%
31%
27%
OneAmerica
27%
38%
11%
24%
18%
34%
26%
23%
The Standard
16%
32%
15%
37%
12%
32%
10%
45%
Vanguard
40%
42%
9%
9%
29%
44%
14%
13%
American Funds Distributors
37%
48%
8%
7%
31%
44%
14%
12%
Empower Retirement
63%
28%
6%
3%
54%
36%
8%
1%
MassMutual Financial Group
42%
44%
12%
2%
17%
54%
23%
5%
Paychex
35%
39%
11%
15%
2%
17%
68%
13%
TIAA
35%
28%
8%
29%
9%
28%
37%
26%
Voya Financial
37%
39%
15%
8%
20%
39%
27%
14%
Ascensus
43%
33%
11%
12%
16%
43%
27%
14%
Fidelity Investments
77%
18%
3%
2%
53%
32%
13%
1%
Nationwide Financial
26%
33%
22%
19%
11%
30%
32%
27%
Principal Financial Group
59%
32%
5%
3%
30%
43%
22%
5%
Transamerica Ret Solutions
43%
38%
14%
5%
22%
35%
33%
10%
Wells Fargo & Co.
22%
32%
14%
32%
9%
32%
27%
32%
http://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2019/TrackLink.action?pageName=39&exitLink=http%3A%2F%2FPLANADVISER.com http://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2019/TrackLink.action?pageName=39&exitLink=mailto%3AMichelle.Judkins%40issgovernance.com
PLANADVISER - September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - September/October 2019
