Overall, plan providers received high grades from their Large Plan Sponsors. The good news for existing providers to the large plan market is that no plan sponsor gave their advisor a failing grade and only one indicated a “D”.

Though the marks were high overall, only one in three providers received the top grade of an “A”. There is definitely still work for providers to do to increase plan sponsor satisfaction. Sponsors of plans with assets over $50 million in assets tended to grade their advisor slightly lower. One explanation for this is that as plans get larger and more complex, so does the opportunity for advisor service failures, resulting in a lower appraisal of their performance.

Providers to Large Plan Sponsors are divided on the frequency of their contact with the plan sponsor to review the retirement plan. Nearly half, or 43%, of plan sponsors express that their advisor meets with them on a quarterly basis to provide an in-depth review of the plan. One third state that their advisor meets with them on an as needed basis, with the remaining quarter of sponsors saying that they meet with their advisor on an annual basis. Since one in three Large Plan Sponsors said that in order to give their provider a grade of “A” or better, the provider needs to become more proactive, the frequency of contact (either quarterly or as needed) may not be often enough.

When combined with the second highest response, “Pay more attention to us,” cumulatively, nearly half of sponsors want more attention or desire for the provider to take the initiative and make the contact rather than the sponsor initiating the discussion. Being responsive to a plan is important, but these results tell us being proactive may be more critical. Some sponsors may have difficulty in bringing up unpleasant topics such as breakdowns in service, thus, advisors and plan providers should regularly request feedback on the level of service that the sponsors are receiving and do what is necessary to bring to light any problems and rectify them.

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