HOW AMERICA SAVES 2016 Small business edition 2016 Vanguard Retirement Plan Access supplement to How America Saves
Introduction Defined contribution (DC) retirement plans are the centerpiece of the private-sector retirement system in the United States. More than 90 million Americans are covered by DC plans, with assets now in excess of $6.7 trillion. 1 Vanguard is at the forefront in the DC marketplace with more than $800 billion in DC plan assets under management, as of March 31, 2016. In our full-service DC recordkeeping business alone, we serve more than 5,900 plan sponsors and more than 4.1 million participants. Launched in 2011, Vanguard Retirement Plan Access TM (VRPA) is a comprehensive service for retirement plans with up to $20-plus million in assets. Through VRPA, we served 4,500 plan sponsors with 200,000 participants at year-end. The Small Business Administration reports that small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms, and they employ half of all private-sector employees. Accordingly, to help small-business DC plan sponsors understand how their plans compare with other small-business plans, we are pleased to add this VRPA supplement to our annual series of How America Saves benchmarking reports. As an industry leader, Vanguard recognizes that it is important to have a detailed understanding of DC plans and the role they play in the U.S. retirement system. We believe this information can help you make more effective plan decisions and will thus serve as a valuable reference tool as you continue to develop your retirement programs. 1 U.S. Department of Labor, Private Pension Plan Bulletin Historical Tables and Graphs, September ; and Investment Company Institute, Quarterly Retirement Market Data, Fourth Quarter, March 2016. Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 1
The benchmark population The benchmark population includes all plans and participants for which VRPA provides recordkeeping (Figure 1). Most figures in this analysis compare data for two distinct VRPA populations: established plans and start-up plans. Start-up plans are plans that were begun within the past three years. Established plans are plans that were started more than three years ago. The average VRPA plan has 45 participants and plan assets of $2.3 million. Established plans had 93% more participants than start-up plans. As expected, start-up plans had fewer assets than established plans. Plan design DC plans with employee-elective deferrals can be grouped into four categories based on the type of employer contributions made to the plan: (1) plans with matching contributions, (2) plans with nonmatching employer contributions, (3) plans with both matching and nonmatching contributions, and (4) plans with no employer contributions at all. Nonmatching contributions are typically structured as a variable or fixed profit-sharing contribution. In employee-contributory DC plans, employer contributions are typically a secondary source of plan funding. Both the type and size of employer contributions vary substantially across plans. Eligibility In, 1 in 5 (22%) VRPA plans allowed employees to make voluntary contributions immediately after they joined their employer (Figure 2). At the other extreme, 41% of plan sponsors required eligible employees to have one year of service before they could make employee-elective contributions to their plans. Start-up plans were more likely to allow employees to make voluntary contributions immediately than established plans. Established plans were more likely to require employees to have one year of service before they could make employee-elective contributions to their plan. Eligibility for employer-matching contributions was remarkably similar to eligibility for employee voluntary contributions. However, eligibility for nonmatching employer contributions have a longer waiting period. More than half of plans sponsors required a one-year waiting period for these contributions. Figure 1. Population Vanguard Retirement Plan Services defined contribution plans 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Number of plans 445 1,418 2,666 4,452 3,100 1,352 Number of participant accounts 16,436 61,746 125,136 199,242 162,258 36,984 Average number of plan participants 37 44 47 45 52 27 Median number of plan participants 17 20 21 20 24 11 Amount of plan assets $830 million $3.4 billion $6.8 billion $10.4 billion $9.7 billion $713 million Average plan assets $1.9 million $2.4 million $2.5 million $2.3 million $3.1 million $500,000 Average participant age 43 43 43 43 44 39 Median participant age 42 42 42 42 43 36 Average participant tenure 7 7 7 7 7 4 Median participant tenure 5 4 4 4 4 2 Median eligible employee income $62,000 $53,000 $47,000 $47,000 $47,000 $46,000 Median participant income $74,000 $67,000 $58,000 $59,000 $58,000 $62,000 Median nonparticipant income $42,000 $35,000 $29,000 $30,000 $31,000 $24,000 2 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Figure 2. Eligibility, permitting employee-elective deferrals Employee-elective contributions 75% 45% 41% 22% 19% 27% 5% 5% 7% 21% 18% 17% 14% 14% 13% <0.5% <0.5% <0.5% Immediate 1 month 2 3 months 4 6 months 7 11 months 1 year 32% Employer-matching contributions 75% 41% 44% 31% 23% 19% 18% 23% 19% 18% 16% 16% 16% 5% 4% 7% <0.5% <0.5% Immediate 1 month 2 3 months 4 6 months 7 11 months 1 year Nonmatching employer contributions 75% 58% 6 53% 15% 14% 17% 12% 14% 11% 12% 12% 13% 3% 3% 3% <0.5% <0.5% Immediate 1 month 2 3 months 4 6 months 7 11 months 1 year All Established Start-up Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 3
Vesting Voluntary employee contributions are immediately vested. Nearly two-thirds of plan sponsors also immediately vested employer-matching contributions (Figure 3). Seven in 10 employers also immediately vested nonmatching employer contributions. Employer contributions Forty-four percent of VRPA plans provided only a matching contribution in (Figure 4). Eight percent of plans provided both a matching and a nonmatching employer contribution. One in 5 plans provided only a nonmatching employer contribution. Finally, 28% of plans made no employer contributions of any kind in. Figure 3. Vesting, permitting employee-elective deferrals Employer-matching contributions 9 75% 63% 58% 2 16% Immediate <0.5% 1% 1% 1-yr cliff 2% 2% 3% 2-yr cliff 3% 4% 3% 3-yr cliff 1% 1% 1% 2-yr graded 3% 2% 3% 3-yr graded 3% 4% 3% 4-yr graded 8%9% 4% 5-yr graded 7% 6-yr graded <0.5% <0.5% <0.5% Other Employer-matching contributions 9 8 72% 69% 17% 2 1 <0.5% <0.5% <0.5% 2% 1% 2% Immediate 1-yr cliff 2-yr cliff 3% 3% 3% 3-yr cliff 1% <0.5% 1% 2-yr graded 1% 1% 1% 3-yr graded 1% 2% 1% 4-yr graded 3% 3% 2% 5-yr graded 6-yr graded Other All Established Start-up 4 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Safe harbor designs Six in 10 VRPA plans with an employer contribution had adopted a safe harbor design (Figure 5). The most common was a safe harbor match with a value of 4% on up to the first 5% of employee contributions (41% of safe harbor plans). Thirteen percent of VRPA plans provided a safe harbor match with a value greater than 4% on up to the first 6% of employee contributions. About half of VRPA plans adopted a safe harbor nonelective employer contribution with a 3% value or higher. Figure 4. Types of employer contributions, All Established Start-up Matching contribution only 44% 45% 42% Nonmatching contribution only 20 20 20 Both matching and other nonmatching contributions 8 10 5 Subtotal 72 75 67 No employer contribution 28 25 33 Figure 5. Safe harbor designs, with employer contributions All Established Start-up Percentage of plans with employer contributions with safe harbor designs 62% 58% 72% Type of safe harbor contribution Automatic enrollment plans with a 3.5% employer match value <0.5% <0.5% <0.5% Employer match with a 4% value 41 41 41 Employer match with a value >4% 13 13 15 Nonelective employer contribution with a 3% value 22 22 22 Nonelective employer contribution with a value >3% 24 24 22 Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 5
Total employer contributions As noted previously, 72% of VRPA plans provided either an employer match or nonelective contribution, or both, in. The average value of the total employer contribution was 5.8% in, and the median value was 3.5% (Figure 6). However, the value of employer contributions varies significantly from plan to plan. These contributions varied from less than 3% of wages for 1 in 5 plans, to 1 of wages or more for 1 in 10 plans. The most common employer contribution had a value of 4% of wages. Figure 6. Total employer contributions with employer contributions 25% Percentage of plans with employer contributions 22% 17% 9% <3% 3% >3% <4% 21% 5% 4% >4% <5% Average 5.8% (median 3.5%) 5% 13% 5% >5% <1 8% 1+ Value of employer contributions as a percentage of wages Automatic enrollment design Automatic enrollment plan design reframes the savings decision. Instead of making a positive election to join the plan, employees are automatically enrolled and must take action to opt out. Automatic enrollment or autopilot designs are an important plan design feature that can increase plan participation and plan deferral rates. With an autopilot design, individuals are automatically enrolled in the plan, their deferral rates are automatically increased each year, and their contributions are automatically invested in a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA). As of December, one-sixth of VRPA plans permitting employee-elective deferrals had adopted automatic enrollment (Figure 7). Six in 10 of these plans automatically enroll participants at a 3% contribution rate. More than one-third of these plans automatically increase the contribution rate annually. Nearly all of these plans use a target-date or other balanced investment strategy as the default fund, with 96% choosing a target-date fund as the default. Participation rates A plan s participation rate the percentage of eligible employees who choose to make employee-elective contributions remains the broadest metric for gauging 401(k) plan performance. The most common measure of participation rates is calculated by taking the average of participation rates among a group of plans. We refer to this as the plan-weighted participation rate. In, VRPA s plan-weighted participation rate was 72% (Figure 8). 6 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Figure 7. Automatic enrollment design permitting employee-elective deferrals 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Automatic enrollment adoption Number of plans (n) 65 261 479 697 472 225 Percentage of plans 15% 19% 18% 16% 15% 17% Default automatic enrollment rate 1 percent 3% 2% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2 percent 8 10 9 9 10 6 3 percent 72 65 62 59 60 56 4 percent 8 7 9 9 9 9 5 percent 6 11 10 10 8 15 6 percent or more 3 5 7 10 10 11 Default automatic increase rate 1 percent 54% 4 37% 35% 35% 35% 2 percent 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 percent 0 0 0 <0.5 <0.5 0 Not offered 45 59 62 64 63 64 Default fund Target-date fund 95% 95% 95% 96% 95% 98% Other balanced fund 3 4 4 3 4 2 Model portfolio 2 <0.5 1 1 1 <0.5 Money market or stable value fund 0 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 0 Figure 8. Participation rates permitting employee-elective deferrals 10 88% 85% 73% 67% 73% 66% 73% 65% 72% 64% 7 58% 2012 2013 2014 Voluntary enrollment Automatic enrollment Plan-weighted Participant-weighted Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 7
A second measure of participation rates considers all employees in VRPA plans as if they were in a single plan. We refer to this as the participantweighted participation rate. Across the universe of VRPA participants, nearly two-thirds of eligible employees are enrolled in their employer s voluntary savings program. Plans with automatic enrollment have higher participation rates than plans with voluntary enrollment. The participant-weighted participation rate is 5 higher in plans with automatic enrollment. Participation rates by employee demographics Participation rates vary considerably by employee demographics (Figure 9). Income is one of the primary determinants of plan participation rates. Only 45% of eligible employees with income of less than $30,000 contributed to their employer s DC plan in, while 86% of employees with income of more than $100,000 elected to participate. Even among the highest-paid employees, 14% of eligible workers still failed to take advantage of their employer s DC plan. Figure 9. Participation rates by participant demographics permitting employee-elective deferrals 2012 2013 2014 Voluntary Automatic All All All All enrollment enrollment All 67% 66% 65% 64% 58% 88% Income <$30,000 51% 49% 49% 45% 35% 83% $30,000 $49,999 64 66 66 64 58 89 $50,000 $74,999 76 76 77 71 70 92 $75,000 $99,999 81 82 82 80 77 93 $100,000+ 87 87 86 86 83 94 Age <25 46% 46% 48% 45% 3 85% 25 34 63 63 63 61 52 88 35 44 67 67 66 65 59 88 45 54 73 70 69 69 65 89 55 64 75 72 70 71 68 90 65+ 66 62 60 60 57 82 Gender Male 67% 66% 67% 65% 59% 89% Female 68 66 64 63 58 87 Job tenure (years) 0 1 56% 57% 58% 55% 41% 86% 2 3 59 62 61 62 56 88 4 6 69 66 65 66 62 93 7 9 77 72 70 70 67 93 10+ 81 80 78 78 76 95 8 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Participation rates were lowest for employees younger than 25. Only 45% of employees younger than 25 made deferrals to their employer s plan in, while about 7 in 10 eligible employees between ages 45 and 64 saved for retirement in their employer s plan. Tenure had a significant influence on plan participation. In, only slightly more than half of employees with less than two years on the job participated in their employer s plan, while 8 in 10 employees with tenure of ten years or more participated. Impact of automatic enrollment on plan participation Employees subjected to an automatic enrollment feature have an overall participation rate of 88%, compared with a participation rate of only 58% for employees hired under plans with voluntary enrollment. Figure 10. Deferral rates permitting employee-elective deferrals 10. Plans with automatic enrollment have higher participation rates across all demographic variables. For individuals earning less than $30,000 in plans with automatic enrollment, the participation rate is more than double that of plans with voluntary enrollment. Contributions Employee deferrals In a typical DC plan, employees are the main source of funding, while employer contributions play a secondary role. Thus, the level of participant deferrals is a critical determinant of whether the DC plan will generate an adequate level of savings for retirement. VRPA deferral rates are drawn from recordkeeping data and exclude eligible employees not contributing to their plans. VRPA participants saved 6.7% of their income on average in their employer s plan in (Figure 10). The median participant deferral rate was 5., meaning that half of participants were saving above this rate and half were saving below it. Plans with voluntary enrollment have average deferral rates that are about 32% higher and median deferral rates that are nearly 3 higher than plans with automatic enrollment. 7.4% 7.1% 7.2% 6.7% 6.7% 5. 5. 5. 5. 5.5% 5.2% 4. 2012 2013 2014 Voluntary Automatic enrollment enrollment Average Median Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 9
Deferral rates by employee demographics As with plan participation rates, employee demographics have a strong influence on deferral rates (Figure 11). Income is the primary determinant of deferral rates, which generally rise with income, but then decline as highly paid participants reach either the statutory maximum contribution level or plan-imposed caps on contributions related to nondiscrimination testing. The statutory maximum contribution was $18,000 ($24,000 for participants 50 and older), and a highly compensated employee was one who earned $120,000 or more in 2014 (based on the prior year for ). In, participants with incomes between $30,000 and $49,999 had deferral rates averaging 5.4%, while participants earning $75,000 to $99,999 had deferral rates of 7.6% a savings rate that is about 4 higher. Deferral rates were 8. for participants earning $100,000 or more. Participants in the VRPA population earning less than $30,000 have higher deferral rates averaging 5.9%. However, a minority of these participants (2%) have very high deferral rates. When we exclude participants deferring more than 5, then participants earning less than $30,000 had deferral rates averaging 5.1%. Figure 11. Deferral rates by participant demographics permitting employee-elective deferrals 2012 2013 2014 Voluntary Automatic All All All All enrollment enrollment All 7.4% 7.1% 6.7% 6.7% 7.2% 5.5% Income <$30,000 9. 7.5% 6.3% 5.9% 7.8% 3.7% $30,000 $49,999 6.0 6.4 5.4 5.4 5.8 4.4 $50,000 $74,999 7.0 6.9 6.6 6.5 6.8 5.7 $75,000 $99,999 7.6 7.7 7.7 7.6 7.9 6.8 $100,000+ 7.7 7.7 7.8 8.0 8.2 7.6 Age <25 5.3% 4.8% 4.8% 4.6% 5.4% 3.9% 25 34 6.2 5.7 5.5 5.5 5.9 4.8 35 44 6.9 6.7 6.3 6.2 6.5 5.5 45 54 7.7 7.6 7.1 7.2 7.6 6.1 55 64 9.5 9.2 8.5 8.6 8.9 7.4 65+ 11.1 11.0 10.5 10.5 10.8 9.3 Gender Male 7.3% 7.3% 6.7% 6.7% 7.2% 5.7% Female 7.5 6.9 6.6 6.6 7.1 5.4 Job tenure (years) 0 1 6.6% 6.2% 5.5% 5.3% 6.4% 4.3% 2 3 6.5 6.5 6.3 6.5 6.7 6.1 4 6 7.2 7.0 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.8 7 9 7.9 7.7 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.2 10+ 8.7 8.5 8.1 8.4 8.4 8.4 10 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Age is another important variable influencing savings. In, deferral rates were lowest for participants younger than 25. This group saved only 4.6% of income. Deferral rates for participants ages 55 to 64 were nearly 9 higher, averaging 8.6%. Deferral rates also rose directly with employee tenure. Impact of automatic enrollment Plan design, specifically the predominant use of a 3% default deferral rate, means participants enrolled in plans through automatic enrollment are saving less. Participants joining a plan under an automatic enrollment feature have an average deferral rate of 5.5%, compared with 7.2% for participants joining plans under voluntary enrollment a deferral rate that is about one-quarter lower overall. This is especially remarkable in light of the fact that participants earning less than $30,000 save more than twice as much on average under voluntary enrollment designs. This suggests that higher default deferral rates would be amenable to plan participants in automatic enrollment designs. Our research on automatic enrollment indicates that quit rates do not deteriorate when higher default percentages are used to enroll employees. 2 Maximum contributors During, only 12% of participants saved the statutory maximum dollar amount of $18,000 ($24,000 for participants age 50 or older) (Figure 12). Participants who contributed the maximum dollar amount tended to have higher incomes, were older, had longer tenures with their current employer, and had accumulated substantially higher account balances. Nearly 1 in 5 participants were saving 1 or more from their income. Figure 12. Other employee contribution data permitting employee-elective deferrals 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of participants reaching 402(g) limit 11% 12% 11% 12% 12% 13% Percentage of participants deferring more than 1 20 19 18 19 19 19 Percentage of plans offering catch-up 99% 99% >99.5% >99.5% >99.5% 10 Percentage of participants using catch-up if offered 17 17 18 18 18 20 Percentage of plans offering Roth 76% 73% 75% 76% 75% 8 Percentage of participants using Roth if offered 12 13 14 14 13 18 Percentage of plans offering traditional after-tax 2% 3% 2% 3% 3% 1% Percentage of participants using traditional after-tax if offered 0 <0.5 1 1 <0.5 6 2 For an in-depth analysis of automatic enrollment, see Jeffrey W. Clark, Stephen P. Utkus, and Jean A. Young,, Automatic enrollment: The power of the default, Vanguard research, institutional.vanguard.com. Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 11
Catch-up contributions Nearly all VRPA plans offered catch-up contributions in. Only 18% of age-50-and-older participants eligible for catch-up contributions took advantage of this feature in. The characteristics of participants making catch-up contributions are similar to those of participants making the maximum contribution to their plan. They tended to have higher incomes and had accumulated substantially higher account balances. Roth contributions At year-end, the Roth feature was offered by three-quarters of VRPA plans and had been adopted by 14% of participants in plans offering the feature. After-tax contributions After-tax employee-elective deferrals are available to participants in only 3% of VRPA plans. In, 1% of employees offered the after-tax deferral feature took advantage of it. Aggregate contributions Taking into account both employee and employer contributions, the average total participant contribution rate in was 9. and the median was 7.5% (Figure 13). Established plans had higher aggregate contribution levels than start-up plans. Account balances Account balances are a widely cited measure of the overall effectiveness of DC plans. However, current balances may not reflect lifetime savings and are only a partial measure of retirement preparedness for many participants. The median balance represents the typical participant: half of all participants have balances above the median and half have balances below. In, the average account balance for VRPA participants was $52,206; the median balance was $9,398 (Figure 14). Established plans had account balances that were about three times larger than start-up plans. Figure 13. Aggregate participant and employer contribution rates 15. Figure 14. Account balances $75,000 $59,713 10.4% 9.5% 8. 7.6% 9.1% 7.9% 9. 7.5% 9.1% 8.5% 7.7% 7. $50,610 $55,657 $53,959 $52,206 $10,950 $11,171 $9,601 $9,398 $11,516 $19,272 $4,478 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up $0 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up Average Median Average Median 12 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Asset and contribution allocations The percentage of plan assets invested in equities stood at 72% in (Figure 15). The allocation to equities includes the equity component of balanced strategies. In, investment in balanced strategies reached 47%, including 41% in target-date funds and 6% in other balanced options. The growth of targetdate funds in particular is dramatically reshaping investment patterns in DC plans, including increasing equity allocation differences by age and reducing extreme allocations. Three-quarters of plan contribution dollars were invested in equities during and half of plan contribution dollars were invested in target-date funds (Figure 16). Figure 15. Plan asset allocation summary Figure 16. Plan contribution allocation summary 10 68% equities 8% 11% 7% 73% equities 7% 7% 7% 73% equities 5% 8% 7% 72% equities 6% 7% 6% 72% equities 6% 8% 6% 77% equities 4% 6% 4% 10 63% equities 17% 1 73% equities 7% 7% 6% 76% equities 5% 6% 5% 77% equities 5% 5% 4% 76% equities 6% 6% 5% 82% equities 4% 34% 36% 39% 41% 4 48% 6% 33% 42% 48% 5 47% 58% 39% 4 4 39% 39% 37% 34% 38% 36% 36% 36% 34% 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up Brokerage Target-date funds Company stock Other balanced funds Diversified equity funds Bond funds Brokerage Other balanced funds Diversified equity funds Bond funds Target-date funds Cash Cash Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 13
Figure 17. Types of investment options offered and used, Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage of plans of established of start-up of participants offering plans offering plans offering offered using Cash 99% 99% 99% 11% Money market 83 80 91 7 Stable value/investment contract 15 18 8 20 Bond funds >99.5% >99.5% >99.5% 16% Active 68 75 50 13 Index 84 82 90 10 Inflation-protected securities 36 42 23 5 High-yield 25 28 18 8 International 54 48 67 6 Balanced funds 99% 99% >99.5% 81% Target-date 97 96 98 75 Other balanced 81 80 84 15 Equity funds >99.5% >99.5% >99.5% 33% Domestic equity funds >99.5% >99.5% >99.5% 32% Active domestic 68 73 55 23 Index domestic 99 99 99 27 Large-cap >99.5 99 >99.5 28 Mid-cap 93 93 91 18 Small-cap 94 95 93 17 Socially responsible 7 7 7 8 International equity funds 99% 99% 99% 18% Active international 59 65 46 16 Index international 85 82 91 11 Emerging markets 66 63 75 10 Sector funds 74% 75% 72% 14% REIT 69 69 68 10 Health care 20 21 16 14 Energy 16 17 14 8 Precious metals 11 11 9 5 Technology 10 11 6 9 Communications 2 1 2 3 Utilities 6 7 3 6 Commodities 2% 2% 1% 6% Life insurance <0.5% <0.5% 6% Annuity <0.5% <0.5% 16% Company stock <0.5% <0.5% 23% Self-directed brokerage 13% 14% 12% 2% Outside assets <0.5% <0.5% 38% Model portfolio 8% 9% 4% 21% Advice <0.5% <0.5% <0.5% 7% 14 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Plan investment options Types of options offered Virtually all VRPA plans offer an array of investment options covering four major investment categories: equities, bonds, balanced funds, and cash reserves (Figure 17). Equity offerings typically include both indexed and actively managed U.S. stock funds as well as one or more international funds. funds as one fund, since these funds are designed as a single-fund investment. Counting a target-date series as a single fund offering, the median plan sponsor offered 20 investment options in. Number of options offered and used The average VRPA plan offered 20.2 investment options in (Figure 18). In the plan analysis of options offered, we count a series of target-date Figure 18. Investment options offered and used 25.0 20.0 20.0 19.6 20.0 20.1 20.0 20.2 20.0 20.6 20.0 19.3 19.0 0.0 3.2 2.0 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up Average each target-date fund counted as a single option Average number of funds used by participants Median each target-date fund counted as a single option Median number of funds used by participants Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 15
In, 1 in 5 plans offered more than 25 distinct investment options, while 6% of plans offered 10 or fewer (Figure 19). Despite the large number of funds available to them, participants tend to use only a few. On average, VRPA plan participants used 2.6 funds and the typical participant held just one fund. In the participant analysis of options used, we count each target-date fund used as a separate fund, rather than considering them to be one fund. This is because participants can, and some do, invest in multiple target-date funds. Default funds Increasingly, participants are being directed into default investments selected by the plan sponsor, rather than making active investment choices on their own. Default investing is rising in importance in response to concerns about the lack of investment knowledge among participants, as well as the growing use of automatic enrollment. In response to these developments, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), acting under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, authorized three types of default investments as eligible for special fiduciary protection. These options include target-date funds, other balanced funds, and managed account programs and model portfolios. Nearly all VRPA plans have designated a default fund, and 95% had selected a target-date fund option as the default option in (Figure 20). Ninety-eight percent of plans had specifically designated a QDIA under the DOL s regulations. Among all VRPA plans, Figure 19. Number of options offered, Target-date funds counted as one option 4 35% 31% 29% 27% 26% 24% 19% 17% 16% 17% 18% 13% 5% 5% 6% 1% 1% 1% 1 5 6 10 11 15 16 20 21 25 26 30 3% 4% 2% 31+ All Established Start-up 16 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Figure 20. Default fund designations, All plans Established plans Start-up plans Plans designating a default >99.5% >99.5% >99.5% Target-date 95 94 97 Balanced fund 3 4 2 Model portfolio 1 1 <0.5 Money market or stable value 1 1 <0.5 Other <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 Plans designating a QDIA 98% 97% 98% Target-date 96 96 98 Balanced fund 3 3 1 Model portfolio 1 1 <0.5 10 10 10 96% of designated QDIAs were target-date funds, 3% were balanced funds, and 1% selected a model portfolio. Figure 21. Participants with professionally managed allocations Professionally managed allocations The most notable effect of plan investment menus on participant choices is the expanded offering and use of professionally managed allocations. Participants with professionally managed allocations are those who have their entire account balance invested solely in a single target-date, traditional balanced fund, a model portfolio, or a managed account program. In, 6 in 10 VRPA participants were invested in a professionally managed allocation (Figure 21). Driving this development is the growing use of target-date funds. A total of 57% of participants were invested in a single target-date fund in. Among new plan entrants (those entering the plan for the first time), three-quarters of participants were invested in a single target-date fund. Most VRPA plan sponsors chose to reenroll participants in a QDIA at conversion. As noted earlier in this report, VRPA was launched in 2011 and the majority of these plans converted between 2012 and Percentage of participants 8 39% 5% 32% 52% 4% 46% 6 54% 62% 57% 6 55% 68% 65% 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up Participants holding a single target-date fund Participants holding a single balanced fund Participants using a model portfolio 78% 75% New plan entrants Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 17
. Seven in 10 plans reenrolled participants in a QDIA at conversion and 96% using this strategy reenrolled in a target-date fund. Target-date funds Target-date funds base portfolio allocations on an expected retirement date; allocations grow more conservative as the participant approaches the fund s target year. At year-end, nearly all VRPA participants were in plans offering target-date funds (Figure 22). Three-quarters of all participants had all or part of their account invested in target-date funds in. Half of contribution dollars were directed to target-date funds in. Participant equity allocations Equities are the dominant asset class holding of many plan participants. From an investment perspective, an asset allocation to equities of 8 or more may appear appropriate in light of the long-term retirement objectives of most DC plan participants (Figure 23). The growing use of professionally managed allocations within DC plans, including target-date funds, is reshaping equity allocations by age and reducing extreme allocations. The fraction of participants with no allocation to equities was 3% in. At the other extreme, the fraction of participants investing exclusively in equities was 7%. This rising use of professionally managed allocations is also improving portfolio construction (Figure 24). The fraction of participants holding broadly diversified portfolios was 8 in. Less than 1% of VRPA participants were holding concentrated stock positions. Trading activity Participant trading or exchange activity is the movement of existing account assets from one plan investment option to another. This transaction is distinct from a contribution allocation decision, in which participants decide how future contributions to the plan should be invested. Exchange activity is a proxy for a participant s holding period for Figure 22. Use of target-date funds 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of all plans offering target-date funds 95% 97% 97% 97% 96% 98% Percentage of recordkeeping assets in target-date funds 34 36 39 41 40 48 Percentage of all contributions directed to target-date funds 33 42 48 50 47 58 Percentage of all participants offered target-date funds 98 97 96 98 97 99 Percentage of all participants using target-date funds 60 67 73 75 73 81 Note: Investments in target-date funds are subject to the risks of their underlying funds. The year in the fund name refers to the approximate year (the target date) when an investor in the fund would retire and leave the workforce. The fund will gradually shift its emphasis from more aggressive investments to more conservative ones based on its target date. An investment in target-date funds is not guaranteed at any time, including on or after the target date. 18 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Figure 23. Distribution of equity exposure Participant-weighted balances Percenage of account balances 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of contributions to equities 5% 4% 3% 3% 3% 1% 2% 1% 3 5 3 2 2 3 1 2 31% 4 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 41% 5 4 2 3 3 3 2 3 51% 6 7 7 9 8 9 5 8 61% 7 13 15 10 10 10 7 9 71% 8 18 13 12 18 19 15 18 81% 9 33 39 45 41 38 52 42 91% 99% 5 7 6 6 6 7 6 10 8 8 8 7 7 9 8 Average equity participant-weighted 72 75 76 77 75 83 78 Median equity participant-weighted 79 83 84 87 83 89 88 Figure 24. Participant portfolio construction 3% Zero equity 4% Conservative equity 8 Balanced strategies 13 % Aggressive equity <0.5% Aggressive company stock Percentage of participants using 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Zero equity ( equity and company stock) 5% 4% 3% 3% 3% 1% Conservative equity (> and <4 equity) 6 5 4 4 4 2 Balanced strategies (4 to 9 equity and <2 company stock) 76 76 79 80 80 81 Aggressive equity (>9 equity) 13 14 14 13 13 16 Aggressive company stock (>2 company stock) 0 1 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 0 Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 19
investments, as well as a measure of the participant s willingness to change their portfolio in response to short-term market volatility. Daily trading is nearly universal for Vanguard DC plans, with virtually all plan sponsors allowing it. While assets can be traded daily, Vanguard and other investment companies serving DC plans typically have round-trip restrictions designed to thwart the minority of individual participants who seek to engage in active market-timing or day-trading. In, only 5% of participants initiated one or more portfolio trades or exchanges during the year (Figure 25). Percentage of participants trading Figure 25. 15% 6% Participant-directed trading 6% 6% 5% 5% 2012 2013 2014 Established 3% Start-up Plan loans If permitted by the plan, participants can borrow up to 5 of their balance (up to a maximum of $50,000) from their DC plan account. Loans are more common for plans accepting employee contributions and less common for employer-funded DC plans, such as money purchase or profit-sharing plans. Plan loans allow DC participants to access their plan savings before retirement without incurring income taxes or tax penalties. Loans do appear to have a beneficial effect on retirement savings, raising contribution rates above what they would otherwise be. Yet they also come with risks. Cash that has been borrowed earns fixed income rather than equity market returns, and loan interest is double-taxed. Also, participants who leave their employer must typically repay any loan balance immediately or risk paying taxes and a penalty and incurring a reduction in retirement savings by the amount of the loan outstanding. Loan availability Loans are widely offered by employee-contributory DC plans. In, 69% of VRPA 401(k) plans permitted participants to borrow from their plan and 79% of participants had access to a loan feature (Figure 26). Only 9% of VRPA participants offered a loan had a loan outstanding at year-end. On average, the outstanding loan account balance equaled 12% of the participant s account balance including the loan, and the average participant had borrowed about $8,500. Participants in start-up plans were least likely to have borrowed from their retirement plan account, but if they had borrowed, they borrowed 18% of their account balance. 20 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Outstanding loans are typically excluded from measures of plan and participant assets because these assets have, in effect, been withdrawn from the plan and are not currently available as a retirement resource. However, more than 9 of loans are repaid and outstanding loans represent participant and plan assets. Only about 1% of aggregate plan assets had been borrowed by participants. Plan withdrawals Plan withdrawals allow participants to access their plan savings before a job change or retirement. Withdrawals are optional plan provisions and availability varies from plan to plan. They can be classified into two categories. Hardship withdrawals allow participants to access a portion of their savings when they have a demonstrated financial hardship, such as receipt of an eviction or home foreclosure notice, but may also be used for such purposes as college education and purchase of a first home. Nonhardship withdrawals include both post-age-59½ withdrawals and other withdrawals. Post-age-59½ withdrawals allow participants age 59½ and older to access their savings while they are working and are exempt from the 1 penalty on premature distributions. Some plans may also allow participants to withdraw employer profit-sharing contributions, after-tax contributions, or rollover assets while they are working. Figure 26. Loans 25% 18% 11% 13% 1 12% 12% 12% 9% 1 3% 2012 2013 Established Start-up Percentage of participants with loans if offered Percentage of account balance borrowed 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of all plans offering loans 73% 72% 71% 69% 73% 6 Percentage of participants offered loans 85 81 82 79 82 67 Percentage of recordkeeping assets borrowed 2 2 1 1 1 1 Average participant loan $8,090 $8,539 $8,409 $8,541 $8,536 $8,620 Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 21
Among VRPA DC plans in, 84% allowed hardship withdrawals and 99% allowed plan withdrawals for those who have reached age 59½ (Figure 27). In, less than 1% (0.7%) of participants in plans offering any type of withdrawal used the feature, and the average portion of account balance withdrawn was 47%. Assets withdrawn totaled 1% of VRPA recordkeeping assets. Certain participants could, over time, jeopardize their retirement program if they continue to rely on this feature throughout their working careers. Plan distributions and rollovers When changing jobs or retiring, DC plan participants have the choice of preserving their savings for retirement (by retaining them in the plan or rolling them over to an IRA or another DC plan) or taking a cash lump sum (and spending or investing it). If they choose to roll over their savings to an IRA or another qualified retirement plan, participants avoid paying taxes on the accumulated balance. If participants Figure 27. Withdrawals 6 45% 48% 47% 46% 51% 4 0.3% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7% 0.7% 2012 2013 2014 Established 0.6% Start-up Percentage of participants with withdrawals if offered Percentage of account balance withdrawn 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of all plans offering withdrawals >99.5% >99.5% 99% 99% 99% >99.5% Percentage of all plans offering hardship withdrawals Percentage of all plans offering age-59½ withdrawals Percentage of all plans offering employer-contribution withdrawals Percentage of all participants offered withdrawals Percentage of recordkeeping assets withdrawn 88 86 85 84 82 88 99 99 99 99 99 >99.5 88 90 91 92 95 84 >99.5 >99.5 >99.5 >99.5 >99.5 >99.5 1 1 1 1 1 1 Average participant withdrawal $39,340 $30,878 $23,034 $21,126 $23,440 $8,175 22 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
spend the lump-sum distribution or invest it in a taxable account, they incur a possible income tax liability (and a 1 penalty if they are younger than 59½). All VRPA plans permit indefinite deferral of savings, meaning that participant balances can remain in the employer plan (Figure 28). Seven percent of VRPA plans allow participants to establish installment payments. Virtually all VRPA plans permit terminated participants to take partial ad hoc cash distributions. Participant and asset flows Plan distributions can occur reasonably frequently as participants change jobs or retire, and they represent a large portion of total plan and participant assets. During, about one-third of VRPA plan participants could have taken their plan account as a cash distribution because they had separated from service in the current year or prior years. Figure 28. Distribution options, All Established Start-up Deferral 10 10 10 Installments other than RMDs 7 10 1 Ad hoc partial distributions >99.5 >99.5 >99.5 Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 23
However, just 13% of participants eligible for a cash distribution took one, while the vast majority (87%) continued to preserve their plan assets for retirement (Figure 29). Figure 29.. Plan distributions 10 96% 9 87% 96% 85% 96% 87% 96% 87% 96% 94% 87% These figures differ from other reported statistics on plan distributions because they include participants who choose to retain their assets in their prior employer s plan when they change jobs or retire. Among only those participants who took a distribution from their plan, more took cash distributions (13%) than rolled over their assets to another plan or IRA (12%). But in our view, a full assessment of plan distribution behavior must include participants who kept their assets within their prior employer s plan at the time of a job change or retirement. 2012 2013 2014 Established Start-up Percentage of participants preserving assets Percentage of assets preserved for retirement 2012 2013 2014 All All All All Established Start-up Percentage of participants choosing Remain in plan 81% 77% 73% 75% 76% 75% Rollover 9 10 12 12 12 12 Remain in plan and rollover 0 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 Installment payments 0 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 0 Participants preserving assets 90 87 85 87 87 87 Cash lump sum 1 12% 14% 12% 12% 13% Rollover and cash <0.5 1 1 1 1 <0.5 Percentage of assets available for distribution Remain in plan 81% 78% 76% 74% 74% 73% Rollover 15 17 19 21 21 21 Remain in plan and rollover 0 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 Installment payments 0 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 Assets preserved for retirement 96 96 96 96 96 94 Cash lump sum 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 5% Rollover and cash 1 1 1 1 1 1 24 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Appendix In this table we provide a comparison of VRPA key statistics with the How America Saves population recordkept directly by Vanguard. Vanguard Retirement Plan Access comparison with How America Saves Vanguard recordkeeping statistics Vanguard Retirement Plan Access How America Saves 2012 2013 2014 Number of participant accounts 16,436 61,746 125,136 199,242 3.6 million Number of plans 445 1,418 2,666 4,542 1.9 thousand Median participant age 42 42 42 42 46 Median participant tenure 5 4 4 4 7 Percentage male 58% 56% 56% 56% 59% Median eligible employee income (thousands) $62 $53 $47 $47 $63 Median participant income (thousands) $74 $67 $58 $59 $73 Median nonparticipant income (thousands) $42 $35 $29 $30 $43 1. Accumulating Plan design Plans offering immediate eligibility for employee contributions 24% 24% 23% 22% 58% Plans providing an employer contribution 82 75 72 72 95 Plans with automatic enrollment 15 19 18 16 41 Plans with automatic enrollment with automatic annual increases 55 41 38 36 70 Plans offering catch-up contributions 99 99 >99.5 >99.5 97 Plans offering Roth contributions 76 73 75 76 60 Plans offering after-tax contributions 2 3 2 3 18 Participation rates Plan-weighted participation rate 73% 73% 73% 72% 78%* Participant-weighted participation rate 67 66 65 64 66* Voluntary enrollment participant-weighted participation rate 65 62 59 58 58 Automatic enrollment participant-weighted participation rate 90 87 89 88 88 Participants using catch-up contributions (when offered) 17 17 18 18 16 Participants using Roth (when offered) 12 13 14 14 15 Participants using after-tax (when offered) 0 <0.5 1 1 8 Employee deferrals Average participant deferral rate 7.4% 7.1% 6.7% 6.7% 6.8% Median participant deferral rate 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.9 Percentage of participants deferring more than 1 20.0 19.0 18.0 18 20 Voluntary enrollment plan average participant deferral rate 7.6 7.5 7.1 7.2 7.2 Automatic enrollment plan average participant deferral rate 5.7 5.7 5.6 5.5 6.8 Participants reaching 402(g) limit ($17,500 in ) 11.0 12.0 11.0 12 12 Average total contribution rate (participant and employer) 10.4 9.5 9.1 9.0 9.5 Median total contribution rate (participant and employer) 8.0 7.6 7.9 7.5 8.8 Account balances Average balance $50,610 $55,657 $53,959 $52,206 $96,288 Median balance $10,950 $11,171 $9,601 $9,398 $26,405 *The data is preliminary. Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 25
2. Managing Asset and contribution allocation Vanguard Retirement Plan Access How America Saves 2012 2013 2014 Average plan asset allocation to equities 68% 73% 73% 72% 71% Average plan contribution allocation to equities 63 73 76 77 74 Average plan asset allocation to target-date funds 34 36 39 41 26 Average plan contribution allocation to target-date funds 33 42 48 50 46 Participants with balanced strategies 76 76 79 80 70 Extreme participant asset allocations (10 fixed income or equity) Plan investment options 13 12 10 10 12 Average number of funds offered 20.0 19.6 20.1 20.2 18.1 Average number of funds used 3.2 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.8 Percentage of plans designating a QDIA 98% 98% 98% 98% 77% Among all plans designating a QDIA, percentage target-date 97 96 96 96 95 Plans offering target-date funds 95 97 97 97 90 Participants using target-date funds (when offered) 60 67 73 75 70 Plans offering managed account program or a model portfolio 5 7 8 8 25 Participants with professionally managed allocations 39 52 60 62 48 Participants using a single target-date fund 32 46 54 57 42 Participants using a single risk-based balanced fund 5 4 3 3 2 Participants using a managed account program or model portfolio 2 2 3 2 4 Plans actively offering company stock <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 10 Participants with >2 company stock 0 1 <0.5 <0.5 7 Trading activity Participant-directed trading 6% 6% 6% 5% 9% 3. Accessing Loans Plans offering loans 73% 72% 71% 69% 78% Participants with an outstanding loan (when offered) 11 10 9 9 16 Recordkeeping assets borrowed 2 2 1 1 1 Withdrawals Plans offering hardship withdrawals 88% 86% 85% 84% 84% Participants using withdrawals (when offered) <0.5 1 1 1 3 Recordkeeping assets withdrawn 1 1 1 1 1 Participant account balance withdrawn 45 40 48 47 32 Distributions and rollovers Terminated participants preserving assets 9 87% 85% 87% 85% Assets preserved that were available for distribution 96 96 96 96 97 26 > Vanguard Retirement Plan Access
Acknowledgments Launched in 2011, Vanguard Retirement Plan Access (VRPA) is a comprehensive service for retirement plans with up to $20-plus million in assets. Ascensus, Inc. a nationally recognized recordkeeping firm provides the administration of these plans on Vanguard s behalf. Through Vanguard Retirement Plan Access we served 4,500 plan sponsors with almost 200,000 participants as of year-end. We extend our thanks to the following individuals who made this publication possible: Data analysis John A. Lamancusa (Vanguard) Edward Lukshides (Ascensus) Author Jean A. Young (Vanguard) Vanguard Retirement Plan Access > 27
Vanguard Institutional Investor Group P.O. Box 2900 Valley Forge, PA 19482-2900 Connect with Vanguard > institutional.vanguard.com > global.vanguard.com (non-u.s. investors) Vanguard research > Vanguard Center for Retirement Research Vanguard Investment Strategy Group All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Prices of mid- and small-cap stocks often fluctuate more than those of large-company stocks. Stocks of companies based in emerging markets are subject to national and regional political and economic risks and to the risk of currency fluctuations. These risks are especially high in emerging markets. Funds that concentrate on a relatively narrow market sector face the risk of higher share-price volatility. Investments in bonds are subject to interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. High-yield bonds generally have medium- and lower-range credit quality ratings and are therefore subject to a higher level of credit risk than bonds with higher credit quality ratings. 2016 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved. HASVRPA 062016