This report ranks the recordkeepers that serve large 401(k) plans in South Dakota, using the U.S. Department of Labor's Form 5500 Schedule C service-provider disclosures for plan year 2024. Across 123 large 401(k) plans in South Dakota that disclosed a recordkeeper — covering 61,278 active participants and $4.8B 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 31 plans (25.2% of the recordkeeper-served market), followed by Empower with 26 plans (21.1%). Ranked by assets on the plans they serve, Principal leads with $1.5B.
Primary recordkeeper per plan · 2024 plan year · share of the 123 large 401(k) plans in South Dakota that disclose a recordkeeper.
| # | Recordkeeper | Plans | Plans YoY | Participants | Assets on plans | Plans share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Principal | 31 | -16.2% | 24,842 | $1.5B | 25.2% |
| 2 | Empower | 26 | -7.1% | 8,135 | $652.7M | 21.1% |
| 3 | Fidelity | 11 | 0.0% | 7,657 | $256.7M | 8.9% |
| 4 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 10 | -9.1% | 2,843 | $269.0M | 8.1% |
| 5 | Ascensus | 6 | 0.0% | 3,269 | $94.6M | 4.9% |
| 6 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 5 | +150.0% | 3,099 | $303.6M | 4.1% |
| 7 | ADP | 5 | -28.6% | 966 | $58.3M | 4.1% |
| 8 | Alerus | 4 | 0.0% | 1,587 | $164.0M | 3.3% |
| 9 | John Hancock | 4 | +33.3% | 1,190 | $59.7M | 3.3% |
| 10 | OneAmerica | 3 | 0.0% | 953 | $144.6M | 2.4% |
| 11 | Schwab | 2 | 0.0% | 3,267 | $885.8M | 1.6% |
| 12 | T. Rowe Price | 2 | 0.0% | 706 | $120.0M | 1.6% |
| 13 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 2 | 0.0% | 546 | $33.7M | 1.6% |
| 14 | Nationwide | 2 | 0.0% | 355 | $17.4M | 1.6% |
| 15 | Mutual of America | 2 | +100.0% | 327 | $16.4M | 1.6% |
| 16 | Employee Fiduciary | 2 | +100.0% | 533 | $12.5M | 1.6% |
| 17 | Newport Group | 1 | 0.0% | 240 | $74.0M | 0.8% |
| 18 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 1 | 0.0% | 194 | $31.6M | 0.8% |
| 19 | Transamerica | 1 | 0.0% | 194 | $21.1M | 0.8% |
| 20 | Vanguard | 1 | 0.0% | 92 | $20.4M | 0.8% |
| 21 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 112 | $7.5M | 0.8% |
| 22 | Voya | 1 | — | 171 | $3.6M | 0.8% |
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 | 31 | -16.2% | 24,842 | $1.5B | 32.2% |
| 2 | Schwab | 2 | 0.0% | 3,267 | $885.8M | 18.5% |
| 3 | Empower | 26 | -7.1% | 8,135 | $652.7M | 13.6% |
| 4 | The Standard (StanCorp) | 5 | +150.0% | 3,099 | $303.6M | 6.3% |
| 5 | Capital Group (American Funds) | 10 | -9.1% | 2,843 | $269.0M | 5.6% |
| 6 | Fidelity | 11 | 0.0% | 7,657 | $256.7M | 5.4% |
| 7 | Alerus | 4 | 0.0% | 1,587 | $164.0M | 3.4% |
| 8 | OneAmerica | 3 | 0.0% | 953 | $144.6M | 3.0% |
| 9 | T. Rowe Price | 2 | 0.0% | 706 | $120.0M | 2.5% |
| 10 | Ascensus | 6 | 0.0% | 3,269 | $94.6M | 2.0% |
| 11 | Newport Group | 1 | 0.0% | 240 | $74.0M | 1.5% |
| 12 | John Hancock | 4 | +33.3% | 1,190 | $59.7M | 1.2% |
| 13 | ADP | 5 | -28.6% | 966 | $58.3M | 1.2% |
| 14 | Merrill (Bank of America) | 2 | 0.0% | 546 | $33.7M | 0.7% |
| 15 | EPIC Retirement Plan Services | 1 | 0.0% | 194 | $31.6M | 0.7% |
| 16 | Transamerica | 1 | 0.0% | 194 | $21.1M | 0.4% |
| 17 | Vanguard | 1 | 0.0% | 92 | $20.4M | 0.4% |
| 18 | Nationwide | 2 | 0.0% | 355 | $17.4M | 0.4% |
| 19 | Mutual of America | 2 | +100.0% | 327 | $16.4M | 0.3% |
| 20 | Employee Fiduciary | 2 | +100.0% | 533 | $12.5M | 0.3% |
| 21 | Avantax Retirement Plan Services(as filed) | 1 | 0.0% | 112 | $7.5M | 0.2% |
| 22 | Voya | 1 | — | 171 | $3.6M | 0.1% |
Scope is limited to 401(k) plans whose sponsor is based in South 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 19, 2026.
