This report ranks the recordkeepers that serve large 401(k) plans in California, using the U.S. Department of Labor's Form 5500 Schedule C service-provider disclosures for plan year 2024. Across 5,729 large 401(k) plans in California that disclosed a recordkeeper — covering 6,369,123 active participants and $723.7B in plan assets — the market remains highly concentrated at the top.
Fidelity is the most widely used recordkeeper by number of plans served, named as the primary recordkeeper on 1,534 plans (26.8% of the recordkeeper-served market), followed by Empower with 918 plans (16.0%). Ranked by assets on the plans they serve, Fidelity leads with $357.5B.
Primary recordkeeper per plan · 2024 plan year · share of the 5,729 large 401(k) plans in California that disclose a recordkeeper.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Plans share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fidelity | 1,534 | +1.6% | 2,275,656 | $357.5B | 26.8% |
| 2 | Empower | 918 | -4.2% | 1,162,773 | $68.0B | 16.0% |
| 3 | ADP | 602 | +1.2% | 223,898 | $9.9B | 10.5% |
| 4 | Principal | 411 | -6.8% | 564,925 | $27.4B | 7.2% |
| 5 | John Hancock | 320 | -14.2% | 200,888 | $13.2B | 5.6% |
| 6 | Vanguard | 290 | -9.7% | 578,554 | $126.3B | 5.1% |
| 7 | Transamerica | 233 | -10.0% | 193,511 | $11.1B | 4.1% |
| 8 | Voya | 174 | +5.5% | 100,105 | $7.5B | 3.0% |
| 9 | Schwab | 118 | 0.0% | 164,935 | $41.2B | 2.1% |
| 10 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 117 | +23.2% | 160,828 | $3.4B | 2.0% |
| 11 | Ascensus | 111 | +6.7% | 48,379 | $3.4B | 1.9% |
| 12 | Guideline | 99 | +10.0% | 25,862 | $1.3B | 1.7% |
| 13 | Paychex | 91 | -4.2% | 18,354 | $674.5M | 1.6% |
| 14 | Newport Group | 84 | -4.5% | 73,886 | $4.1B | 1.5% |
| 15 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 83 | -13.5% | 87,003 | $5.0B | 1.4% |
| 16 | OneAmerica | 73 | -16.1% | 35,311 | $4.7B | 1.3% |
| 17 | T. Rowe Price | 68 | -2.9% | 204,271 | $22.3B | 1.2% |
| 18 | Mutual of America | 67 | +21.8% | 19,324 | $696.2M | 1.2% |
| 19 | Human Interest | 42 | +31.3% | 7,547 | $268.7M | 0.7% |
| 20 | Nationwide | 33 | -31.3% | 11,082 | $661.6M | 0.6% |
| 21 | Lincoln Financial | 32 | -20.0% | 14,459 | $1.3B | 0.6% |
| 22 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 29 | -14.7% | 119,645 | $6.8B | 0.5% |
| 23 | Betterment | 28 | +16.7% | 7,016 | $456.1M | 0.5% |
| 24 | Jpmorgan Invest Holdings(as filed) | 20 | -9.1% | 7,574 | $726.9M | 0.3% |
| 25 | Vestwell | 15 | +25.0% | 6,739 | $26.5M | 0.3% |
Sum of each plan’s end-of-year total plan assets, pooled investment vehicles excluded. “Assets on plans served,” not assets under administration.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Assets share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fidelity | 1,534 | +1.6% | 2,275,656 | $357.5B | 49.4% |
| 2 | Vanguard | 290 | -9.7% | 578,554 | $126.3B | 17.5% |
| 3 | Empower | 918 | -4.2% | 1,162,773 | $68.0B | 9.4% |
| 4 | Schwab | 118 | 0.0% | 164,935 | $41.2B | 5.7% |
| 5 | Principal | 411 | -6.8% | 564,925 | $27.4B | 3.8% |
| 6 | T. Rowe Price | 68 | -2.9% | 204,271 | $22.3B | 3.1% |
| 7 | John Hancock | 320 | -14.2% | 200,888 | $13.2B | 1.8% |
| 8 | Transamerica | 233 | -10.0% | 193,511 | $11.1B | 1.5% |
| 9 | ADP | 602 | +1.2% | 223,898 | $9.9B | 1.4% |
| 10 | Voya | 174 | +5.5% | 100,105 | $7.5B | 1.0% |
| 11 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 29 | -14.7% | 119,645 | $6.8B | 0.9% |
| 12 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 83 | -13.5% | 87,003 | $5.0B | 0.7% |
| 13 | OneAmerica | 73 | -16.1% | 35,311 | $4.7B | 0.6% |
| 14 | Newport Group | 84 | -4.5% | 73,886 | $4.1B | 0.6% |
| 15 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 117 | +23.2% | 160,828 | $3.4B | 0.5% |
| 16 | Ascensus | 111 | +6.7% | 48,379 | $3.4B | 0.5% |
| 17 | Lincoln Financial | 32 | -20.0% | 14,459 | $1.3B | 0.2% |
| 18 | Guideline | 99 | +10.0% | 25,862 | $1.3B | 0.2% |
| 19 | TIAA | 5 | -44.4% | 2,398 | $945.8M | 0.1% |
| 20 | Alight Solutions | 2 | -33.3% | 3,069 | $923.6M | 0.1% |
| 21 | Tpp Retiremnet Plan Specialists(as filed) | 1 | — | 1,284 | $878.6M | 0.1% |
| 22 | Jpmorgan Invest Holdings(as filed) | 20 | -9.1% | 7,574 | $726.9M | 0.1% |
| 23 | Mutual of America | 67 | +21.8% | 19,324 | $696.2M | 0.1% |
| 24 | Paychex | 91 | -4.2% | 18,354 | $674.5M | 0.1% |
| 25 | Nationwide | 33 | -31.3% | 11,082 | $661.6M | 0.1% |
Largest changes in plans served among recordkeepers with 100+ plans in either year.
Scope is limited to 401(k) plans whose sponsor is based in California. Each plan is attributed to its sponsor's state from the Form 5500, so a multi-state employer's plan is counted once, in its filing state. Scope is 401(k) plans only — filings whose pension-benefit code carries the 401(k) feature and are not defined-benefit plans — so the figures are comparable to other 401(k) market benchmarks. Each plan is attributed to a single primary recordkeeper — the disclosed recordkeeper receiving the highest direct compensation — so figures are unduplicated and brand shares sum to 100%. Provider-name spellings are consolidated into brand families using a curated, published mapping. Assets are each plan's own end-of-year total plan assets, summed across the plans a recordkeeper is primary on, with pooled investment vehicles (master trusts and other Direct Filing Entities) excluded to avoid double-counting. Because Schedule C is filed almost exclusively by large (generally 100+ participant) plans, this is a large-plan 401(k) market view. See the methodology for full definitions and limitations.
Full definitions and limitations: Methodology §7.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor EFAST2 public release of Form 5500 & Form 5500-SF, Schedule C (service providers) and Schedule H (financials), plan years 2022–2025. Generated October 18, 2026.
