BrightScope released on Tuesday its ranking of the 30 best 401(k) plans for 2016, with seven new entrants, including the NFL Player Annuity Program.
BrightScope ranked plans with over $1 billion in assets, using publicly available data from the Department of Labor and Securities and Exchange Commission. However, it noted in a statement that it gets "an increasing amount of its data directly from plan sponsors and recordkeepers."
"This is our eighth year compiling the year-end Top 30 ratings list, and yet again we see companies offering higher quality plans," Brooks Herman, head of data and research at BrightScope, said in the statement.
Herman noted that average plan ratings have improved each year that BrightScope has published the list. "This demonstrates that America's employees and employers recognize how critical a high-quality 401(k) plan is to maintaining an acceptable standard of living in retirement," he said.
The plans in the top 30 have an average participation rate over 96%, according to BrightScope, and participants are deferring an average $14,500. Employers contributed an average $13,000 per participant.
About 41% of assets held in the top 30 401(k) plans are in index funds, BrightScope found, up 6% from last year. Target-date funds represent 10% of assets.
The BrightScope rating is a proprietary algorithm based on more than 200 data points within broader categories, such as plan costs, company generosity and investment menu quality. This year's top-ranked plans are:
30. IBM 401(k) Plus Plan
2016 Rating: 87.38
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $46.81 billion
29. Delphi Salaried Retirement Savings Program
2016 Rating: 87.39
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $1.7 billion
28. Federal Express (FedEx) Corp. Pilots' Retirement Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 87.44
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $1.55 billion
27. ExxonMobil Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 87.75
2015 Rank: 15
Net Assets: $19.76 billion
26. Sanofi U.S. Group Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 87.76
2015 Rank: 26
Net Assets: $4.96 billion
25. MillerCoors LLC Employees' Retirement and Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 87.83
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $1.52 billion
24. Shell Provident Fund
2016 Rating: 87.95
2015 Rank: 22
Net Assets: $9.95 billion
23. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Savings and Investment Program
2016 Rating: 87.95
2015 Rank: 27
Net Assets: $5 billion
22. Latham & Watkins 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan
2016 Rating: 87.99
2015 Rank: 23
Net Assets: $1.19 billion
21. Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) Retirement Savings Plan for Employees
2016 Rating: 88.09
2015 Rank: 29
Net Assets: $1.78 billion
20. Marathon Oil Company Thrift Plan
2016 Rating: 88.18
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $1.05 billion
19. Bechtel Trust & Thrift Plan
2016 Rating: 88.19
2015 Rank: 13
Net Assets: $4.73 billion
18. Phillips 66 Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 88.23
2015 Rank: 21
Net Assets: $4.31 billion
17. Allergan Inc. Savings and Investment Plan
2016 Rating: 88.26
2015 Rank: 30
Net Assets: $1.43 billion
16. Pfizer Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 88.27
2015 Rank: 16
Net Assets: $10.87 billion
15. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (Kaiser Permanente) Keogh Plan
2016 Rating: 88.36
2015 Rank: 14
Net Assets: $3 billion
14. NFL Player Annuity Program
2016 Rating: 88.56
2015 Rank: N/A
Net Assets: $1.05 billion
13. BP Employee Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 88.64
2015 Rank: 10
Net Assets: $6.94 billion
12. Google Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 88.85
2015 Rank: 18
Net Assets: $5.79 billion
11. Anadarko Employee Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 89.13
2015 Rank: 11
Net Assets: $1.57 billion
10. UPS/IPA Defined Contribution Money Purchase Pension Plan
2016 Rating: 89.23
2015 Rank: 7
Net Assets: $1.29 billion
9. Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc. Savings and Retirement Plan
2016 Rating: 89.41
2015 Rank: 25
Net Assets: $1.48 billion
8. Chevron Employee Savings Investment Plan
2016 Rating: 89.58
2015 Rank: 9
Net Assets: $17.09
7. Bayer Corp. Savings and Retirement Plan
2016 Rating: 89.74
2015 Rank: 19
Net Assets: $4.26 billion
6. Amgen Retirement and Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 89.84
2015 Rank: 3
Net Assets: $3.99 billion
5. ConocoPhillips Savings Plan
2016 Rating: 90.09
2015 Rank: 8
Net Assets: $6.88 billion
4. Southwest Airlines Pilots' Retirement Savings Plan
