Most plan sponsors calculate fees annually

Most plan sponsors calculate their fees (e.g., administration, record keeping, participant transaction fees, compliance, custody, and communications) within a year, according to the Callan Institute's 2023 Defined Contribution Survey of plan sponsors that it conducted in late 2022. Under the broad categories, within the past 12 months, 83% calculated investment management fees, 75% computed administration/record-keeping fees, and 69% checked trust and custody fees. There were 2% and 7% of respondents who didn't know the last time administrative/record keeping, and trust and custody fees, respectively, were calculated.

Following the review, 45% reduced plan fees and 39% kept them constant.

The overwhelming majority of plan sponsors, 95%, used benchmarking as part of their evaluation of fees. While apt to use multiple sources, consultant databases were the most popular, cited by 61% of sponsors.

Plan participants bear most of the fee burden with 85% of investment management fees and 67% of administrative fees paid entirely by participants.