SAN DIEGO, CA — (Marketwired) — 09/17/13 — BrightScope (), a leading provider of independent financial information and investment research, today announced the Top 25 companies in the San Francisco Bay Area with the highest ranked 401k plans containing more than $100 million in assets.
BrightScope obtains an increasing amount of its data directly from plan sponsors and record keepers, and augments these primary sources with data from publicly available sources such as the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission. By analyzing and interpreting this data, BrightScope provides unprecedented transparency into the 401k industry.
“Spanning across industries from tech and financial to pharmaceuticals and entertainment, the plans on this year-s list show the breadth of quality in the SF Bay Area,” said Dan Weeks, Co-Founder of BrightScope. “Plan ratings have increased across the board, as plan sponsors continue to improve offerings and maximize the chance of their teams- future financial security.”
Noteworthy findings in the 2013 Top 25 San Francisco 401k Plans list include:
First Appearances: Dodge & Cox (# 1), Elan Pharmaceuticals (# 2), Yahoo! Inc. (# 15), LSI Corporation (# 16), Visa Inc. (# 23), Juniper Networks, Inc. (#24) and Avago Technologies, Inc. (# 25) enter the rankings this year
Greatest Leap: Cooley, LLP rocketed 16 spots from #25 up to #9 this year
Largest Drop: Bechtel Corporation slid 10 spots from #3 to #13
Average account balance for plans listed is $151,329
94.77% is the average participation rate for plans on the list
Average company generosity for plans listed is $8,605; the median is $8,047
Average salary deferral for plans listed is $11,665; the median is $11,858
Top 25 San Francisco Bay Area companies with the highest ranked 401k plans containing more than $100 million in assets:
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1. Dodge & Cox – – 89.24
2. Elan Pharmaceuticals – – 88.06
3. SVB Financial Group – – 87.03
4. Google Inc. – – 86.99
5. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP – – 86.85
6. Chevron Corporation – – 86.65
7. Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.- – 86.57
8. Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC – – 86.50
9. Cooley, LLP – – 86.17
10. Dolby Laboratories, Inc. – – 86.13
11. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP – – 85.99
12. MedAmerica, Inc. – – 85.85
13. Bechtel Corporation – – 85.70
14. Cisco Systems, Inc. – – 85.67
15. Yahoo! Inc. – – 85.54
16. LSI Corporation – – 85.49
17. Infineon Technologies North America Corp. – – 85.39
18. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. – – 85.03
19. Altera Corporation – – 84.95
20. Applied Signal Technology, Inc. – – 84.90
21. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC – – 84.69
22. Xilinx, Inc. – – 84.55
23. Visa Inc. – – 84.44
24. Juniper Networks, Inc. – – 84.43
25. Avago Technologies Inc. – – 84.36
The BrightScope Rating was developed by BrightScope, Inc. with the help of leading academics and independent 401k fiduciaries. By analyzing more than 200 individual data points, the BrightScope Rating algorithm calculates a single numerical value for each 401k plan. The data points examined cover broad categories such as total plan cost, company generosity and investment menu quality.
BrightScope has rated nearly 50,000 401k and 403b plans, spanning more than 57 million workers and over $3 trillion in assets. Industry adoption of the BrightScope Rating will lead to more cost-effective plans, increased participation rates, higher employee satisfaction and better outcomes for the 60 million employees who depend on their 401k plan for retirement.
BrightScope is a financial information company that brings transparency to opaque markets through independent research and analysis. Delivered through web-based software, BrightScope data drives better decision-making for individual investors, corporate plan sponsors, asset managers, broker-dealers, and financial advisors. The BrightScope Rating, developed in partnership with leading independent 401k fiduciaries, reviews more than 200 unique data inputs per plan and calculates a single numerical score which defines plan quality at the company level. In April 2011, the company launched BrightScope Advisor Pages, the first comprehensive and publicly available directory of financial advisors designed to help consumers discover information and conduct due diligence on wealth management professionals. BrightScope also markets a suite of data analytics software products to Fortune 1000 companies, asset managers, broker-dealers, financial advisors, and other market participants. Public ratings for nearly 50,000 retirement plans as well as rating definitions, criteria and methodologies, and information on nearly 600,000 financial advisors and nearly 40,000 advisory firms are available for free at .
Jessica Kipp
Atomic PR for BrightScope
415-593-1400