Our Recent Awards

Established in 2017, nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. Teams must have at least $100 million in AUA to be included. The list is based exclusively on self-reported AUA. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance. Approximately 452 submissions participated in the ranking. 452 were named to the final ranking.

Established in 2017, nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business in a single physical location. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. The rating is not indicative of the Advisor’s future performance. No fee is charged to participate.

In 2022, 438 applications were submitted and 430 were on the final list.

Each year, PLANADVISER magazine recognizes the top quantitative standouts from its Retirement Plan Adviser Survey with the Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers awards. Top 100 designees are named according to the dollar value of qualified plan assets under advisement, as well as the number of plans under advisement.

To become eligible for this quantitative listing, advisers must complete the annual PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, fielded each September. Respondents are divided into categories for evaluation, defined by the number of advisers, plus support staff, in the practice. In 2021, the firms fall under the following headings: individual adviser—meaning one adviser and support staff; small team—a group of two or more advisers and support staff, the total not exceeding 10; large team—a group of 11 through 35 advisers and support staff; and mega teams—36 or more team members in all.

In 2021, there were 472 applicants, and 100 were ultimately selected. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the applicant’s future performance.

Established in 2017, nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business, in a single physical location. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance. This year there were 305 submissions, with 300 on the final list.

The “PLANADVISER Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers” 2020 list is compiled from responses to the PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey. The list is drawn solely from a set of quantitative variables and information in the survey supplied by the advisers themselves. For an adviser to be eligible for recognition in this year’s Top 100, s/he had to submit a completed entry to our 2020 Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, which was fielded this past September.

The Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers is segmented into four groups based on the number of advisers and number of total employees including support staff: individual adviser, meaning one adviser with support staff; small team, a group of two or more advisers and support staff, the total not exceeding 10; large team, a group of 11 to 35 advisers and support staff; and mega teams, 36 or more team members. To qualify for a particular segment, individuals needed to advise a minimum of 110 plans or $900 million in retirement plan AUA; small teams had to advise at least $1.8 billion in retirement plan assets or 130 plans; large teams needed $4 billion or more in retirement plan AUA or 175 or more plans; and mega teams had to oversee at least $12 billion in retirement plan AUA or 250 plans.

A sub-segment of the questions was used to determine eligibility for the Top 100. In 2019, 684 nominations were received, and from that 292 were named to the list. The rating is not indicative of the investment adviser’s future performance; and a fee was not paid to participate in the survey.

Established in 2015, nominations from the list were provided by NAPA Broker-Dealer/RIA Firm Partners. Nominees had to be women, had to be retirement plan advisors with their own book of business. Nominees were required to submit responses to an application comprised of a series of quantitative and qualitative questions about their experience, size and composition of their practice, awards and recognitions, and industry contributions, which were then reviewed by a panel of senior advisor industry experts, who, based on those criteria, and following a broker-check review, selected the top women advisors.

Within the group of top women advisors, those who were principals, owners or team captains of their organizations were designated as “Captains.” There were 556 nominations, 258 considered and 125 on final list (50 all-stars, 50 captains, 25 rising stars.)

The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The award is not indicative of the advisors’ future performance.

Established in 2017, nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance. Teams are ranked by assets under advisement, self-reported by advisor firm/teams. Approximately 282 submissions were received and 265 were selected.

The 2019 PLANADVISER Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers recognizes the top defined contribution (DC) plan advisers across the U.S in terms of assets or plans under advisement. In 2018, 321 survey responses to the PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey elected to be considered for the Top 100 recognition. Of those, 100 (31%) were named to the list. The Top 100 rating, created and conducted by PLANADVISER, is not indicative of the investment adviser’s future performance and no adviser pays, or is paid a fee, to take part in the program.

Established in 2017, nominees had to be individual advisor team/offices with a defined contribution book of business. To be considered, firms had to submit responses to an application form, including information about their practices, notably their defined contribution (DC) assets under advisement. The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance. Teams are ranked by assets under advisement, self-reported by advisor firm/teams. Approximately 279 submissions were received and 257 were selected.

The Financial Times 401 Top Retirement Advisors is an independent listing produced annually by the Financial Times (September 2018). The FT 401 is based on data gathered from advisors, regulatory disclosures, and the FT’s research. The listing reflects each advisor’s status in six primary areas: DC plan assets under management, DC plan growth rate, specialization in DC plans, years of experience, advanced industry credentials, and compliance record. Out of 678 applications; about 59% of which (401) received the award. This honor is not indicative of the advisor’s future performance. Neither the advisors nor their parent firms pay a fee to the Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 401.

The 2018 PLANADVISER Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers recognizes the top defined contribution (DC) plan advisers across the U.S in terms of assets or plans under advisement. In 2017, 341 survey responses were collected for the PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, from which the list is generated. Of those, 100 (29%) were named to the list. The Top 100 rating, created and conducted by PLANADVISER, is not indicative of the investment adviser’s future performance and no adviser pays or is paid a fee to take part in the program.

The 2017 PLANADVISER Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers recognizes the top defined contribution (DC) plan advisers across the U.S in terms of assets or plans under advisement. In 2017, 341 survey responses were collected for the PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, from which the list is generated. Of those, 100 (29%) were named to the list. The Top 100 rating, created and conducted by PLANADVISER, is not indicative of the investment adviser’s future performance and no adviser pays or is paid a fee to take part in the program.

Within the group of top women advisors, those who were principals, owners or team captains of their organizations were designated as “Captains.”

The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association. No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance.

In 2017 587 nominations were received and 201 were considered. 50 Captains, 50 All-Stars and 10 Rising Stars were selected.