2015
Retirement Plan Adviser Survey

Arguably, retirement plan advisers have a better—or at least
a more comparative—perspective than their plan sponsor clients about the
relative strength of products and services offered by investment and
recordkeeping providers. After all, advisers can—and usually do—work with many
of them concurrently. The 2015 Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, our eighth,
endeavors to gain insight from the adviser community about how providers and
funds are selected, and which are the favorites each year.

Providers

Providers

Nationwide Financial

Qualified plan adviser votes159
Overall perception among plan advisers
Very favorable11.5%
Somewhat favorable22.1%
Not favorable39.7%
No opinion26.0%
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times27.6%
Worked with a few times33.3%
Worked with once14.6%
Never worked with24.4%
Top 10 service categories
1  Supporting materials4 votes
1  Adviser support post-sale4 votes
3  Wholesalers3 votes
3  Overall service to micro plans3 votes
5  Overall service to small plans2 votes
5  Plan participant support2 votes
5  Plan sponsor education materials2 votes
5  Fee structure for advisers2 votes
9  Adviser sales/marketing support1 vote
9  Value-added adviser services1 vote