This report ranks the recordkeepers that serve large 401(k) plans in Iowa, using the U.S. Department of Labor's Form 5500 Schedule C service-provider disclosures for plan year 2024. Across 534 large 401(k) plans in Iowa that disclosed a recordkeeper — covering 595,083 active participants and $38.9B in plan assets — the market remains highly concentrated at the top.
Principal is the most widely used recordkeeper by number of plans served, named as the primary recordkeeper on 191 plans (35.8% of the recordkeeper-served market), followed by Empower with 97 plans (18.2%). Ranked by assets on the plans they serve, Principal leads with $14.2B.
Primary recordkeeper per plan · 2024 plan year · share of the 534 large 401(k) plans in Iowa that disclose a recordkeeper.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Plans share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Principal | 191 | -3.5% | 358,540 | $14.2B | 35.8% |
| 2 | Empower | 97 | 0.0% | 58,991 | $5.6B | 18.2% |
| 3 | Fidelity | 59 | -1.7% | 90,512 | $11.8B | 11.0% |
| 4 | Transamerica | 24 | +4.3% | 13,693 | $861.5M | 4.5% |
| 5 | John Hancock | 21 | -4.5% | 8,591 | $765.5M | 3.9% |
| 6 | Vanguard | 18 | 0.0% | 10,029 | $1.6B | 3.4% |
| 7 | ADP | 15 | +25.0% | 5,297 | $244.3M | 2.8% |
| 8 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 11 | -15.4% | 4,245 | $298.3M | 2.1% |
| 9 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 9 | +12.5% | 11,214 | $625.3M | 1.7% |
| 10 | Newport Group | 9 | -18.2% | 1,668 | $208.5M | 1.7% |
| 11 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 9 | +50.0% | 2,028 | $84.8M | 1.7% |
| 12 | OneAmerica | 8 | +33.3% | 7,540 | $682.9M | 1.5% |
| 13 | Ascensus | 8 | +166.7% | 3,136 | $157.3M | 1.5% |
| 14 | Alerus | 7 | 0.0% | 1,884 | $179.4M | 1.3% |
| 15 | Voya | 6 | +20.0% | 3,253 | $149.9M | 1.1% |
| 16 | July Business Services(as filed) | 6 | +200.0% | 1,719 | $139.0M | 1.1% |
| 17 | Mutual of America | 6 | 0.0% | 1,349 | $95.2M | 1.1% |
| 18 | Schwab | 5 | +66.7% | 2,548 | $657.0M | 0.9% |
| 19 | Nationwide | 4 | -33.3% | 916 | $104.7M | 0.7% |
| 20 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 4 | -20.0% | 639 | $28.1M | 0.7% |
| 21 | Admin Group Dba Tag Resources(as filed) | 3 | +200.0% | 3,009 | $56.8M | 0.6% |
| 22 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 3 | -40.0% | 478 | $52.5M | 0.6% |
| 23 | T. Rowe Price | 2 | 0.0% | 522 | $153.7M | 0.4% |
| 24 | Lincoln Financial | 2 | -33.3% | 665 | $95.6M | 0.4% |
| 25 | Paychex | 1 | 0.0% | 341 | $40.0M | 0.2% |
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 | Principal | 191 | -3.5% | 358,540 | $14.2B | 36.5% |
| 2 | Fidelity | 59 | -1.7% | 90,512 | $11.8B | 30.3% |
| 3 | Empower | 97 | 0.0% | 58,991 | $5.6B | 14.3% |
| 4 | Vanguard | 18 | 0.0% | 10,029 | $1.6B | 4.1% |
| 5 | Transamerica | 24 | +4.3% | 13,693 | $861.5M | 2.2% |
| 6 | John Hancock | 21 | -4.5% | 8,591 | $765.5M | 2.0% |
| 7 | OneAmerica | 8 | +33.3% | 7,540 | $682.9M | 1.8% |
| 8 | Schwab | 5 | +66.7% | 2,548 | $657.0M | 1.7% |
| 9 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 9 | +12.5% | 11,214 | $625.3M | 1.6% |
| 10 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 11 | -15.4% | 4,245 | $298.3M | 0.8% |
| 11 | ADP | 15 | +25.0% | 5,297 | $244.3M | 0.6% |
| 12 | Newport Group | 9 | -18.2% | 1,668 | $208.5M | 0.5% |
| 13 | Alerus | 7 | 0.0% | 1,884 | $179.4M | 0.5% |
| 14 | Ascensus | 8 | +166.7% | 3,136 | $157.3M | 0.4% |
| 15 | T. Rowe Price | 2 | 0.0% | 522 | $153.7M | 0.4% |
| 16 | Voya | 6 | +20.0% | 3,253 | $149.9M | 0.4% |
| 17 | July Business Services(as filed) | 6 | +200.0% | 1,719 | $139.0M | 0.4% |
| 18 | Nationwide | 4 | -33.3% | 916 | $104.7M | 0.3% |
| 19 | Lincoln Financial | 2 | -33.3% | 665 | $95.6M | 0.2% |
| 20 | Mutual of America | 6 | 0.0% | 1,349 | $95.2M | 0.2% |
| 21 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 9 | +50.0% | 2,028 | $84.8M | 0.2% |
| 22 | Admin Group Dba Tag Resources(as filed) | 3 | +200.0% | 3,009 | $56.8M | 0.1% |
| 23 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 3 | -40.0% | 478 | $52.5M | 0.1% |
| 24 | Paychex | 1 | 0.0% | 341 | $40.0M | 0.1% |
| 25 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 4 | -20.0% | 639 | $28.1M | 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 Iowa. 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.
