RESEARCH |
2019
PLANADVISER Micro Plan Survey
Our annual gathering of data on plans with less than $5 million in assets points to a promising market for advisers
Reported by PLANADVISER
| Art by JooHee Yoon
Industry Data
Costs/Fees
Costs/Fees
Who Pays for Plan’s Administrative/Recordkeeping Costs?
| All Plans | <$1MM | $1MM–$5MM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan (via participants) | 47% | 18% | 30% |
| Employer | 31% | 56% | 45% |
| Both | 14% | 11% | 14% |
| Unsure/Don’t know | 7% | 14% | 11% |
| Approximate Average Expense Ratio of Plan Investments | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| All Plans | <$1MM | $1MM–$5MM | |
| >0.25% (>25 bps12) | 16% | 15% | 12% |
| 0.25% – 0.50% (25 – 50 bps) | 26% | 13% | 17% |
| >0.50% – 0.75% (51– 75 bps) | 15% | 7% | 10% |
| >0.75% –1.0% (76 –100 bps) | 9% | 7% | 10% |
| >1.0% – 2.0% (101– 200 bps) | 5% | 5% | 9% |
| >2.0% – 2.5% (201 – 250 bps) | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| >2.5% (>250 bps) | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Unsure/Don’t know | 29% | 52% | 41% |
| 12Basis points | |||
Frequency of Formal Review of Administrative Costs/Fees
| All Plans | <$1MM | $1MM–$5MM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annually | 74% | 70% | 73% |
| Every 1 to 2 years | 9% | 8% | 10% |
| Every >2 to 3 years | 6% | 4% | 5% |
| Every >3 to 5 years | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Every >5 years | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Unsure/Don’t know | 6% | 15% | 9% |
Were Total Plan Fees Calculated for the Prior Plan Year?
| All Plans | <$1MM | $1MM–$5MM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes, and we externally benchmarked our plan’s cost/fees as part of the process | 46% | 25% | 29% | |
| Yes, and we plan to externally benchmark our plan’s cost/fees in the near future | 7% | 1% | 5% | |
| Yes, but we did not externally benchmark our plan’s cost/fees | 17% | 17% | 21% | |
| No, but we intend to calculate total fees in the next 6 months | 4% | 8% | 5% | |
| No, but we may do it at some point in the future | 12% | 26% | 20% | |
| Unsure/Don’t know | 14% | 23% | 20% | |