2019
PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey
Methodology
The 2019 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey was open for response throughout September, and 547 advisers did so. Survey questions captured adviser insights on industry decision-drivers as well as assessments of investment managers, mutual funds and defined contribution (DC) plan providers. Investment manager and mutual fund ratings were derived from feedback from the 477 advisers who were personally involved in the evaluation and recommendation of investment options. DC recordkeeper evaluations are based on responses from 457 advisers who personally have evaluated and recommend these providers for qualified plan clients. Top 10 lists reflect the percentage of respondents who recognized the recordkeeper as having the “best service” in that category, based on a count of those who had worked with the recordkeeper at least several times. Overall, advisers needed to have worked with a DC plan provider at least once to offer feedback on it. Additional insight on the size and scope of advisers’ qualified plan business, practice management, compensation, and client service strategies is available in the 2019 PLANADVISER Practice Management/Benchmarking Survey, fielded and published separately. For more information and additional research available, please contact surveys@issgovernance.com.
Top Criteria Used to Decide Which Funds Are Appropriate for Plans
| 1ST PLACE | TOP 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Performance vs. benchmarks | 55.0% | 87.3% |
| 2 Performance (5-year return) | 10.2% | 71.4% |
| 3 Sharpe ratio | 8.5% | 57.0% |
| 4 Manager tenure | 2.3% | 52.1% |
| 5 Fee structure for plan | 4.7% | 51.3% |
| 6 Style drift | 2.1% | 39.6% |
| 7 Share class availability | 1.5% | 34.3% |
| 8 Plan demographics | 5.7% | 29.2% |
| 9 Performance (1-year return) | 0.2% | 11.0% |
| 10 Brand | 0.0% | 5.9% |
| 11 Total assets | 0.0% | 7.6% |
| 12 Adviser support | 0.8% | 5.3% |
| 13 Supporting materials | 0.2% | 4.4% |
| 14 Fee structure for adviser | 0.2% | 1.1% |