Regulatory Lighthouse
Dataset · for retirement plan advisers

The plans paying above market, named

Every 401(k) plan files what it pays its recordkeeper. These are the ones paying well above plans their own size — with the employer, the city, the incumbent provider, and the annual gap in dollars. Six thousand first calls where you already know the number before you dial, every one of them checkable against a public filing.

The data

The top of the file, live

Ranked by annual excess over benchmark. Not a mock-up — every row below is in the file you would receive, drawn from the same build.

EmployerStateStaff Plan assetsIncumbent recordkeeper Feevs median Excess / yr

Nineteen columns

What each row gives you

Who to call

Employer, plan name, city and state. Filter to your territory in one click.

Who you are displacing

The incumbent recordkeeper, named, from the plan's own filing.

Who else is already there

The plan's own adviser, where one is named on the filing. On 4,114 of these plans nobody is — so you are not walking into an incumbent relationship.

The opening number

Disclosed fee in basis points and dollars per participant, against the median for plans that size.

The gap

Benchmark cost and annual excess in dollars. The figure you put in front of a committee.

Coverage

Check your territory before you buy

Some states are thin. If yours is one of them this file is not worth $499 to you, and it is better that you find that out here than after paying. Every state is listed, nothing hidden.

StatePlans Total excess / yr Median rowDepth

By plan size

Incumbent recordkeepers

Method

Where the numbers come from

Your prospect will ask, and they can check every figure against the filing. Here are the answers, including the awkward one.

Source

Form 5500 Schedule C service provider compensation, joined to Schedule H plan assets. Public filings, published by the Department of Labor under a public domain dedication.

Whose fee

Recordkeepers only, by Schedule C service code 15, direct and indirect compensation combined. Schedule C lists every vendor paid $5,000 or more, so an unfiltered cut ranks auditors and law firms as expensive.

What is excluded

Welfare plans, multiemployer and PEO plans, plans under $1m or over $500m, fewer than 25 participants, and near-zero disclosures.

How current

Plan years ending December 2024 and December 2025, from filings received to 24 August 2026. Nothing older, so you are not calling on a provider the plan replaced two years ago.

Rounded in the plan's favour

Benchmark cost is worked out against assets and against headcount, and whichever allows the plan more is the one used. Every excess figure is a floor.

What it misses

These are disclosed figures. Pay wrapped inside an insurance contract can miss Schedule C entirely, so plenty of expensive plans never show up here. The list catches what gets reported.

Who this is wrong for

It covers plans from $1m to $500m in assets only. If you work larger plans, or you cover a single thin state, this file will not earn its price and you should not buy it. The state table above shows exactly what is there before you pay.

No contact details

This names employers, plans and incumbent providers. It does not include names, phone numbers or email addresses for anyone. If you need contacts, this is not that product.

Before you quote it

This is not advice, a legal opinion, or proof that any plan breached a duty. Treat above-median as a reason to look. Check the plan's own filing before you put a number in writing.

One row per plan

Keyed on employer EIN and plan number, the canonical ERISA identity. A company running two genuine plans appears twice. The same plan filed under a changed name does not.

Six thousand calls where you already know the number

  • Open with "your plan pays 3.2x the median for its size" instead of a capability deck
  • Filter to your states in one click. Every row names the incumbent you would be displacing
  • Every figure traces to the prospect's own public filing. Excel, CSV and a written method, so the answer travels with the data
  • One free rebuild in October. The 2025 filing deadline is 15 October 2026. Most rows are plan year 2024 today; after it most are 2025 — current fees, current providers, and around a tenth more rows. Buy on or before then and it is included
$499
Paid once. The comparable tools are annual seat licences, and most will not quote you a price without a sales call.
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