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

Principal Financial Group

Qualified plan adviser votes252
Overall perception among plan advisers
Very favorable19.9%
Somewhat favorable43.4%
Not favorable32.5%
No opinion4.2%
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times53.4%
Worked with a few times33.7%
Worked with once8.6%
Never worked with4.3%
Top 10 service categories
1  Overall service to micro plans20 votes
2  Overall service to small plans16 votes
3  Adviser support post-sale13 votes
4  Plan participant support12 votes
5  Adviser sales/marketing support11 votes
5  Participant education materials11 votes
7  Value-added adviser services10 votes
8  Plan sponsor support9 votes
9  Supporting materials8 votes
10  Wholesalers7 votes