2016
PLANADVISER Micro Plan Survey

Plans with less than $5 million in defined contribution (DC) assets qualified as micro plans. For the Best in Class Awards, recordkeepers qualified for award consideration by receiving a minimum of 25 total client responses from sponsors of micro plans. If a recordkeeper received at least that many responses for its asset group but fewer than the minimum number of service ratings within a specific service category, it was ineligible for awards in that service category only.

Best in Class Awards are based on the average rating received in each of 23 service attributes, with the three highest-scoring providers earning Best in Class Awards and those providers with an average score above the asset group’s benchmark score being deemed Best in Class.

Service Commendations were given to recordkeepers that did not receive Best in Class honors but exhibited strong client satisfaction within a service attribute. Specifically, providers needed to have 90% of clients either “completely” or “mostly” satisfied with a particular service offering to receive a Service Commendation.