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

Vanguard

Qualified plan adviser votes166
Overall perception among plan advisers
Very favorable31.9%
Somewhat favorable46.4%
Not favorable5.8%
No opinion15.9%
Plan adviser experience with provider
Worked with many times26.2%
Worked with a few times47.7%
Worked with once8.5%
Never worked with17.7%
Top 10 service categories
1  Reputation21 votes
1  Value for price21 votes
3  Overall service to large plans8 votes
4  Overall service to mega plans7 votes
5  Plan sponsor education materials6 votes
6  Overall service to small plans5 votes
7  Overall service to micro plans4 votes
7  Fee structure for advisers4 votes
7  Overall service to midsize plans4 votes
10  Plan participant support3 votes