When it comes to retirement plan participant satisfaction, plan providers Bank of America, Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments are a hit with their clients, according to a new J.D. Power survey.
The third annual U.S. Retirement Plan Participant Satisfaction Study surveyed 10,159 retirement plan participants in February and March on their satisfaction with providers of group retirement plans, such as 401(k)s.
Participant satisfaction was based on six factors: interaction across live and digital channels; investment and service offerings; fees and expenses; plan features; information resources; and communications. Plan providers were ranked in three categories based on their overall mix of business in terms of average plan size.
Because the study surveyed participants at the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak in the U.S., J.D. Power said it provided a window into how the pandemic affected plan participant satisfaction.
This year’s study found that with record job losses and economic distress due to Covid-19, only a few providers were successfully addressing the growing need for rollovers. One of them was Bank of America (BoA), which tied for first place with Charles Schwab in the large plan category, scoring 801 out of 1000, and also topped the list in the medium plan category with 827 out of 1000.
In the large plan provider category, which had a segment average of 765, BoA and Schwab were followed by Principal Financial Group with 789; Nationwide with 787; Vanguard with 786; Fidelity Investments with 785; T. Rowe Price with 777; TIAA with 767; Wells Fargo with 758; Transamerica with 755; Prudential Financial Inc., with 751; Voya Financial with 732; Empower Retirement with 728; and Alight Solutions with 699.
In the medium plan provider category, which had a segment average of 770, Schwab trailed BoA in second place with 825 out of 1000. It was followed by OneAmerica with 800; Wells Fargo with 796; Nationwide with 793; T. Rowe Price with 782; Fidelity Investments with 781; Vanguard with 780; ADP Retirement Services with 779; AIG Retirement Services with 774; Principal Financial Group with 773; TIAA with 764; MassMutual and Prudential Financial Inc., each with 762; John Hancock Retirement Plan Services with 759; Lincoln Financial Group with 757; Transamerica with 753; Empower Retirement with 742; and Voya Financial with 739.
In the small plan provider category, which had a segment average of 752, Fidelity Investments took top honors in plan participant satisfaction with 797 out of 1000, followed by AIG Retirement Services with 787; Nationwide with 782; MassMutual with 776; Lincoln Financial Group with 775; Voya Financial with 748; TIAA with 747; ADP Retirement Services with 746; American Funds and Principal Financial Group, each with 744; Transamerica with 742; John Hancock Retirement Plan Services with 741; Empower Retirement with 729; and Paychex, Inc. with 712.
J.D. Power found that many plan providers, in the midst of a health hazard and economic calamity, had failed to seize on an opportunity to engage plan participants.
Just 27% of retirement plan participants said they had accessed professional financial advice related to their plan, and 29% were either unaware of whether such advice was available or perceived that it was not available to them.