This report ranks the recordkeepers that serve large 401(k) plans in North Dakota, using the U.S. Department of Labor's Form 5500 Schedule C service-provider disclosures for plan year 2024. Across 160 large 401(k) plans in North Dakota that disclosed a recordkeeper — covering 123,222 active participants and $14.4B in plan assets — the market remains highly concentrated at the top.
Alerus is the most widely used recordkeeper by number of plans served, named as the primary recordkeeper on 31 plans (19.4% of the recordkeeper-served market), followed by Empower with 24 plans (15.0%). Ranked by assets on the plans they serve, Principal leads with $6.4B.
Primary recordkeeper per plan · 2024 plan year · share of the 160 large 401(k) plans in North Dakota that disclose a recordkeeper.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Plans share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alerus | 31 | 0.0% | 16,067 | $1.9B | 19.4% |
| 2 | Empower | 24 | -11.1% | 9,908 | $1.0B | 15.0% |
| 3 | Bravera Wealth(as filed) | 21 | -4.5% | 5,707 | $426.0M | 13.1% |
| 4 | Principal | 17 | +13.3% | 51,301 | $6.4B | 10.6% |
| 5 | Fidelity | 13 | -7.1% | 10,322 | $1.1B | 8.1% |
| 6 | John Hancock | 8 | -11.1% | 5,847 | $649.8M | 5.0% |
| 7 | Ascensus | 6 | +20.0% | 1,883 | $129.6M | 3.8% |
| 8 | Vanguard | 5 | 0.0% | 2,083 | $809.7M | 3.1% |
| 9 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 4 | +300.0% | 3,420 | $101.3M | 2.5% |
| 10 | T. Rowe Price | 3 | 0.0% | 6,425 | $851.1M | 1.9% |
| 11 | Bnc National Bank(as filed) | 3 | 0.0% | 474 | $99.3M | 1.9% |
| 12 | ADP | 3 | +50.0% | 960 | $50.4M | 1.9% |
| 13 | Transamerica | 2 | 0.0% | 2,506 | $414.6M | 1.3% |
| 14 | Schwab | 2 | 0.0% | 891 | $104.5M | 1.3% |
| 15 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 2 | 0.0% | 547 | $77.0M | 1.3% |
| 16 | Bell Bank(as filed) | 2 | 0.0% | 269 | $19.8M | 1.3% |
| 17 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 2 | -33.3% | 388 | $19.1M | 1.3% |
| 18 | Mutual of America | 2 | -33.3% | 353 | $14.6M | 1.3% |
| 19 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 1 | 0.0% | 1,715 | $43.1M | 0.6% |
| 20 | Benefit Plans Admin Service(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 165 | $31.6M | 0.6% |
| 21 | Sentry Life Insurance(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 290 | $24.5M | 0.6% |
| 22 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 1 | — | 678 | $24.1M | 0.6% |
| 23 | Cambridge Investment Research(as filed) | 1 | — | 109 | $22.2M | 0.6% |
| 24 | Alliance Pension Consultants(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 185 | $21.1M | 0.6% |
| 25 | Equitable Life Insurance Co(as filed) | 1 | — | 105 | $11.2M | 0.6% |
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 | 17 | +13.3% | 51,301 | $6.4B | 44.4% |
| 2 | Alerus | 31 | 0.0% | 16,067 | $1.9B | 13.3% |
| 3 | Fidelity | 13 | -7.1% | 10,322 | $1.1B | 7.8% |
| 4 | Empower | 24 | -11.1% | 9,908 | $1.0B | 7.0% |
| 5 | T. Rowe Price | 3 | 0.0% | 6,425 | $851.1M | 5.9% |
| 6 | Vanguard | 5 | 0.0% | 2,083 | $809.7M | 5.6% |
| 7 | John Hancock | 8 | -11.1% | 5,847 | $649.8M | 4.5% |
| 8 | Bravera Wealth(as filed) | 21 | -4.5% | 5,707 | $426.0M | 3.0% |
| 9 | Transamerica | 2 | 0.0% | 2,506 | $414.6M | 2.9% |
| 10 | Ascensus | 6 | +20.0% | 1,883 | $129.6M | 0.9% |
| 11 | Schwab | 2 | 0.0% | 891 | $104.5M | 0.7% |
| 12 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 4 | +300.0% | 3,420 | $101.3M | 0.7% |
| 13 | Bnc National Bank(as filed) | 3 | 0.0% | 474 | $99.3M | 0.7% |
| 14 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 2 | 0.0% | 547 | $77.0M | 0.5% |
| 15 | ADP | 3 | +50.0% | 960 | $50.4M | 0.3% |
| 16 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 1 | 0.0% | 1,715 | $43.1M | 0.3% |
| 17 | Benefit Plans Admin Service(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 165 | $31.6M | 0.2% |
| 18 | Sentry Life Insurance(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 290 | $24.5M | 0.2% |
| 19 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 1 | — | 678 | $24.1M | 0.2% |
| 20 | Cambridge Investment Research(as filed) | 1 | — | 109 | $22.2M | 0.2% |
| 21 | Alliance Pension Consultants(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 185 | $21.1M | 0.1% |
| 22 | Bell Bank(as filed) | 2 | 0.0% | 269 | $19.8M | 0.1% |
| 23 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 2 | -33.3% | 388 | $19.1M | 0.1% |
| 24 | Mutual of America | 2 | -33.3% | 353 | $14.6M | 0.1% |
| 25 | Equitable Life Insurance Co(as filed) | 1 | — | 105 | $11.2M | 0.1% |
Scope is limited to 401(k) plans whose sponsor is based in North Dakota. 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.
