This report ranks the recordkeepers that serve large 401(k) plans in Illinois, using the U.S. Department of Labor's Form 5500 Schedule C service-provider disclosures for plan year 2024. Across 2,359 large 401(k) plans in Illinois that disclosed a recordkeeper — covering 3,160,217 active participants and $400.4B 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 559 plans (23.7% of the recordkeeper-served market), followed by Empower with 361 plans (15.3%). Ranked by assets on the plans they serve, Fidelity leads with $136.7B.
Primary recordkeeper per plan · 2024 plan year · share of the 2,359 large 401(k) plans in Illinois that disclose a recordkeeper.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Plans share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fidelity | 559 | +3.5% | 1,195,725 | $136.7B | 23.7% |
| 2 | Empower | 361 | +4.0% | 429,911 | $61.5B | 15.3% |
| 3 | Principal | 281 | -5.1% | 279,010 | $18.8B | 11.9% |
| 4 | ADP | 176 | +1.7% | 66,918 | $3.2B | 7.5% |
| 5 | Vanguard | 123 | +1.7% | 223,096 | $47.2B | 5.2% |
| 6 | John Hancock | 115 | -4.2% | 66,780 | $4.2B | 4.9% |
| 7 | Transamerica | 89 | -3.3% | 88,638 | $4.9B | 3.8% |
| 8 | Voya | 67 | +11.7% | 142,991 | $18.7B | 2.8% |
| 9 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 56 | +3.7% | 31,972 | $1.7B | 2.4% |
| 10 | Schwab | 50 | -2.0% | 74,076 | $32.6B | 2.1% |
| 11 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 49 | -5.8% | 137,239 | $28.8B | 2.1% |
| 12 | OneAmerica | 47 | -11.3% | 46,665 | $2.7B | 2.0% |
| 13 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 43 | +258.3% | 17,629 | $1.3B | 1.8% |
| 14 | Ascensus | 41 | -6.8% | 22,511 | $1.1B | 1.7% |
| 15 | Newport Group | 40 | -21.6% | 24,563 | $2.4B | 1.7% |
| 16 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 39 | 0.0% | 10,837 | $1.4B | 1.7% |
| 17 | T. Rowe Price | 31 | +14.8% | 138,594 | $11.7B | 1.3% |
| 18 | Alliance Pension Consultants(as filed) | 26 | -16.1% | 22,297 | $925.9M | 1.1% |
| 19 | Jpmorgan Invest Holdings(as filed) | 19 | +5.6% | 5,410 | $572.5M | 0.8% |
| 20 | Lincoln Financial | 18 | -14.3% | 7,471 | $353.6M | 0.8% |
| 21 | Mutual of America | 18 | +38.5% | 5,192 | $139.1M | 0.8% |
| 22 | Paychex | 13 | -18.8% | 8,017 | $80.3M | 0.6% |
| 23 | Nationwide | 11 | -47.6% | 3,034 | $211.7M | 0.5% |
| 24 | Alerus | 9 | -18.2% | 2,362 | $274.8M | 0.4% |
| 25 | Ameritas Life Insurance(as filed) | 8 | +14.3% | 2,379 | $153.3M | 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 | 559 | +3.5% | 1,195,725 | $136.7B | 34.1% |
| 2 | Empower | 361 | +4.0% | 429,911 | $61.5B | 15.4% |
| 3 | Vanguard | 123 | +1.7% | 223,096 | $47.2B | 11.8% |
| 4 | Schwab | 50 | -2.0% | 74,076 | $32.6B | 8.2% |
| 5 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 49 | -5.8% | 137,239 | $28.8B | 7.2% |
| 6 | Principal | 281 | -5.1% | 279,010 | $18.8B | 4.7% |
| 7 | Voya | 67 | +11.7% | 142,991 | $18.7B | 4.7% |
| 8 | T. Rowe Price | 31 | +14.8% | 138,594 | $11.7B | 2.9% |
| 9 | Alight Solutions | 6 | -45.5% | 49,868 | $11.0B | 2.8% |
| 10 | Northwest Plan Services(as filed) | 2 | +100.0% | 21,743 | $6.4B | 1.6% |
| 11 | Transamerica | 89 | -3.3% | 88,638 | $4.9B | 1.2% |
| 12 | John Hancock | 115 | -4.2% | 66,780 | $4.2B | 1.1% |
| 13 | ADP | 176 | +1.7% | 66,918 | $3.2B | 0.8% |
| 14 | OneAmerica | 47 | -11.3% | 46,665 | $2.7B | 0.7% |
| 15 | Newport Group | 40 | -21.6% | 24,563 | $2.4B | 0.6% |
| 16 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 56 | +3.7% | 31,972 | $1.7B | 0.4% |
| 17 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 39 | 0.0% | 10,837 | $1.4B | 0.3% |
| 18 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 43 | +258.3% | 17,629 | $1.3B | 0.3% |
| 19 | Ascensus | 41 | -6.8% | 22,511 | $1.1B | 0.3% |
| 20 | Alliance Pension Consultants(as filed) | 26 | -16.1% | 22,297 | $925.9M | 0.2% |
| 21 | Jpmorgan Invest Holdings(as filed) | 19 | +5.6% | 5,410 | $572.5M | 0.1% |
| 22 | Lincoln Financial | 18 | -14.3% | 7,471 | $353.6M | 0.1% |
| 23 | Alerus | 9 | -18.2% | 2,362 | $274.8M | 0.1% |
| 24 | Quorum Consulting Group(as filed) | 1 | -50.0% | 19,251 | $267.1M | 0.1% |
| 25 | Nationwide | 11 | -47.6% | 3,034 | $211.7M | 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 Illinois. 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.
