Top Slot Providers
Who are the top 10 SMB 401(k) recordkeepers in 2017, and how do you compare these providers and pick one that is right for for your small or midsized business?
Top Online Slots Casinos for 2021 - #1 guide to playing real money slots online. Discover the best slot machine games, types, jackpots, FREE games, and more!
Slot development companies were quick to act and came up with a brilliant idea — demo slots. Demo slots are essentially free slots, and they enable players to play as much as they want for free. What makes them “demo” is the fact that you can make a deposit and switch to playing for real money whenever you want to. When you browse online casinos, there are more than 50% of the games that are slot machines. Therefore, we wanted to dedicate part of our site to slot machines providers. Since all of our slot machines are free, it will allow you to have fun without spending money while finding the slot machine provider that suits you best! New slots games developers are appearing all the time, emerging from fresh gambling markets with new ideas and games. The latest online casino software providers can have a ton of exciting products like 3D graphics, slick mobile gameplay, and unique bonus features. Ugga Bugga, 99.07% – Playtech. Playtech brings us the absolute highlight of this list.
Every year, PlanSponsor magazine* ranks the top recordkeepers by assets, clients and the market that they serve (small business, mid-sized businesses etc.) This ranking provides a unique view into the 401(k) provider market, helping 401(k) advisors and the companies that sponsor retirement plans understand which vendors are winning marketshare and gaining clients.
If your company is considering switching 401(k) providers, these lists can help narrow down the vendors that you choose to speak with. We’ll talk more about how to run a 401(k) provider selection process below the rankings.
The definition of top small business 401(k) provider
Using the PlanSponsor data, we are defining a top small business 401(k) provider by the number of plans, with under $10 million in assets, that each recordkeeper is servicing. For mid-sized businesses, we are are looking at the data for plans with $10 million to $100 million in assets – once again, using the PlanSponsor data.
It is important to note that, in this post, we are defining a provider as a 401(k) recordkeeper. The recordkeeper is basically like the bookkeeper of the plan. Your company’s employees are probably using the recordkeeper’s website to monitor and modify their investment selections. As the employer handling 401(k) plan’s administration, it is likely that you are logging into the recordkeeper’s site to make employee deferral rate changes (that is, unless you have 401(k) payroll integration, which links your payroll to your recordkeeper). Learn more about what a recordkeeper does here, and learn about the various vendors needed to service a 401(k) plan here.
Who were the top 401(k) providers in 2017?
The top 10 401(k) providers ranking have been stable for the past two years, with only one new provider making it into the top 10 list for defined contribution plans under $10 million in assets, according to PlanSponsor’s annual recordkeeping surveys.*
Top 10 Small Business 401(k) providers
401(k) Plans under $10 million in assets
| **2017 Rank** | **Provider Name** | **2017 Plans Managed** | **2016 Rank** | **2016 Plans Managed** | **Rank Change** | **Plans Managed Growth** |
| 1 | Paychex, Inc. | 76,800 | 1 | 71,800 | 0 | 7% |
| 2 | ADP Retirement Services | 65,480 | 2 | 54,306 | 0 | 21% |
| 3 | John Hancock | 54,824 | 3 | 54,206 | 0 | 1% |
| 4 | American Funds | 50,954 | 4 | 45,139 | +1 | 13% |
| 5 | Principal | 49,794 | 5 | 48,692 | -1 | 2% |
| 6 | Voya Financial | 44,843 | 6 | 44,737 | 0 | 0% |
| 7 | Ascensus | 44,182 | 9 | 44,115 | 2 | 0% |
| 8 | Nationwide | 36,203 | 7 | 37,264 | -1 | -3% |
| 9 | Empower | 32,650 | 10 | 32,265 | 1 | 1% |
| 10 | MassMutual | 29.103 | not in top 10 | not in top 10 | up | na |
Top 10 Mid-Sized Business 401(k) providers
Plans between $10 million and $100 million in assets
| **2017 Rank** | **Provider Name** | **2017 Plans Managed** | **2016 Rank** | **2016 Plans Managed** | **Rank Change** | **Plans Managed Growth** |
| 1 | [Fidelity Investments](https://www.forusall.com/401k-benchmarking/fidelity-401k-fees/) | 6,308 | 1 | 5,865 | 0 | 8% |
| 2 | Alliance Benefit Group | 3,750 | na | up | na | na |
| 3 | Empower Retirement | 3,170 | 3 | 2,693 | -2 | 18% |
| 4 | TIAA | 3,065 | 2 | 2,958 | -1 | 4% |
| 5 | Principal | 2,587 | 4 | 2,370 | -1 | 9% |
| 6 | Voya Financial | 1,938 | 5 | 1,789 | -1 | 8% |
| 7 | MassMutual Financial Group | 1,719 | 6 | 1,605 | -1 | 7% |
| 8 | Transamerica Retirement Solutions | 1,524 | 7 | 1,437 | -1 | 6% |
| 9 | Prudential Retirement | 1,435 | 8 | 1,412 | -1 | 2% |
| 10 | Vanguard | 1,368 | 9 | 1,319 | -1 | 4% |
While Fidelity maintained pole position once again, with over 6,000 companies with $10 million to $100 million in retirement assets served, there were some big moves in the other ranks. Alliance Benefits Group jumped into the number two rank, from not even making the list the previous year. It appears that they added a large number of plans year-over-year, according to PlanSponsor data, and many of these plans must have had between $10 million and $100 million in assets. Their jump moved every other recordkeeper down one slot, except for TIAA and Empower. Empower grew plans managed in this category 18% year-over-year, allowing them to hold steady and push TIAA down two slots.
Nuances to the top provider lists
Differences between the Top Small and Top Mid-sized provider lists
Obviously, there is a big difference in the recordkeepers who make the top 10 list for small businesses vs. the recordkeepers on the top 10 list for mid-sized businesses. Only four of the recordkeepers are on both lists, Principal, Voya, Empower and MassMutual.
This has implications to a business that is looking to use one of these providers as their recordkeeper. In many instances, the recordkeepers have focused their platforms on a specific sized company, and may not be the right fit for all companies. Managing a $2 million plan is not the same as managing a $20 million plan. A company with a $2 million plan shouldn’t necessarily aspire to work with a provider who ordinally services $20 million plans. For example, a mid-sized provider may have high fixed costs that make them expensive for a smaller plan, but reasonably priced for a larger plan once those fixed costs are amortized over a larger participant or asset base.
An experienced, independent 401(k) advisor can help improve the provider search – bringing forward a list of recommended recordkeepers that are right for that specific company’s needs, then negotiating with those recordkeepers to come up with attractive pricing that works for the company and its employees.
What is a 401(k) advisor vs. a 401(k) provider vs. a recordkeeper
At ForUsAll, when we think about small and mid-sized businesses, we tend to think less about the assets that a company has and more about the employee base. A company with 25 employees is usually pretty different than a company with 250 employees, and a business owner at a successful, 20 person consulting firm thinks about her 401(k) differently than the HR manager at a 400 person manufacturing company. The HR infrastructure, workforce composition, etc. are likely very different – if not unique – at each of those businesses. While the assets at each of these companies is likely correlated with the employee count, using assets is a rather crude way to determine if a plan is associated with a small business or a mid-sized business. (Of course, that is exactly what we’ve done here!)
The ability to think about each company as an individual entity, with specific needs, is where a 401(k) advisor like ForUsAll can help. As an independent 401(k) advisor, ForUsAll is focused on helping small and mid-sized businesses get the most out of their 401(k). Some of the responsibilities of a 401(k) advisor include:
- Working with a company’s management team to recommend the right recordkeeper (i.e. provider) – as well as negotiating attractive recordkeeping pricing.
- Acting as an investment fiduciary (hopefully a 3(38) fiduciary, but at least a 3(21)), setting up and monitoring and managing a diverse, low-fee fund lineup.
- We believe that your advisor should also step up, assisting in keeping your plan compliant from an administration perspective, which we do by bringing on 3(16) fiduciary services.
- Optimizing participant communication, using modern digital and online communication strategies to drive employee engagement and retirement success.
- Setting up the right 401(k) plan design for your participant base.
- Using technology and experience to offer all of the above services at at attractive fees to your business and employee base.
What the Top 401(k) providers list means for your business
If you are interested in a total do-it-yourself provider search you can just call the top 401(k) providers. You might also want to download our 401(k) provider shopping checklist. This is a worksheet designed to help you better organize your research when comparing 401(k) providers for your company. The worksheet will help you compare providers across the five key elements to a successful 401(k).
Before beginning your search, keep in mind that the defined benefit market has changed considerably in the past several years. Just moving your plan from one vendor to another top 401(k) provider may not be enough to provide your employees with the retirement plan that they deserve. Some recent, important changes in the market to keep in mind are:
- New government regulations have increased the burden on companies who offer health plans or 401(k)s. A plan that was compliant may no longer be, so reviewing your plan’s documentation and compliance could be a good idea.
- Many manual, error prone administrative tasks can now be automated, given how much software has improved recently.
- Government oversight and fines are on the increase, and 75% of 401(k) plan sponsors that were audited by the Department of Labor failed their audit.
- Since 2009, fees average fees have dropped by almost 30%. Not all 401(k) advisors and recordkeepers have passed those savings along to their clients.
- Profit sharing and other retirement plan features that allow for bigger tax-deferred savings are growing in popularity, and many companies and their executives are missing out by not considering these options.
Should you work with a top 401(k) recordkeeper?
The lists of the top small and mid-sized 401(k) providers may not be the right starting point for your 401(k) recordkeeper search. When you are assessing your plan and considering switching providers, consider the how each provider’s’ features and strengths will play across the following aspects of your retirement plan:
- Employee Experience: Helps employees take advantage & save more
- Investment Help: Offers low-fee options like target date funds
- Administrative Work: Automates day-to-day 401(k) administration
- Compliance: Ensures your plan meets DOL and IRS requirements
- Low-Fee: Keeps administrative & individual investment costs in check
If you’d prefer to focus on running your business and want to leave the provider search to an experienced 401(k) advisor let’s get in touch! We believe that we can help you improve your current 401(k) and reduce your fees. Talk to us today.
*The following is our data section of our original report from January 2017, with data on the top 401(k) recordkeepers from 2015 and 2016. *
Who were the top SMB 401(k) providers in 2016?
The top 10 401(k) providers ranking have been stable for the past two years, with only one new provider making it into the top 10 list for defined contribution plans under $10 million in assets, according to PlanSponsor’s annual recordkeeping surveys.*
For mid-sized plans with $10 million to $100 million in assets, the top 401(k) providers list has been even more stable, with most providers staying at the same rank as the previous year, and only one new provider moving into the top 10 401(k) provider ranking.
Top 10 Small Business 401(k) providers – 2016 Rankings
Plans under $10 million in assets
| **2016 Rank** | **Provider Name** | **2016 Plans Managed** | **2015 Rank** | **2015 Plans Managed** | **Rank Change** | **Plans Managed Growth** |
| 1 | Paychex, Inc. | 71,800 | 1 | 67,800 | 0 | 6% |
| 2 | ADP | 54,306 | 4 | 46,908 | 2 | 16% |
| 3 | [John Hancock 401(k)](https://www.forusall.com/401k-benchmarking/john-hancock-401k-fees/) | 54,206 | 2 | 53,079 | -1 | 2% |
| 4 | Principal | 48,692 | 3 | 48,482 | -1 | 0% |
| 5 | American Funds | 45,139 | 7 | 40,044 | 2 | 13% |
| 6 | Voya Financial | 44,737 | 5 | 44,557 | -1 | 0% |
| 7 | Ascensus | 44,115 | 6 | 43,863 | -1 | 1% |
| 8 | Nationwide | 37,264 | 8 | 38,051 | 0 | -2% |
| 9 | Empower | 32,265 | not in top 10 | not in top 10 | up | na |
| 10 | VALIC | 31,183 | 9 | 31,503 | -1 | -1% |
Top 10 Mid-Sized Business 401(k) providers – 2016 Rankings
Plans between $10 million and $100 million in assets
| **2016 Rank** | **Provider Name** | **2016 Plans Managed** | **2015 Rank** | **2015 Plans Managed** | **Rank Change** | **Plans Managed Growth** |
| 1 | Fidelity Investments | 5,865 | 1 | 5,673 | 0 | 3% |
| 2 | TIAA | 2,958 | 2 | 2,935 | 0 | 1% |
| 3 | Empower Retirement | 2,789 | 3 | 2,693 | 0 | 4% |
| 4 | Principal | 2,370 | 4 | 2,335 | 0 | 1% |
| 5 | Voya Financial | 1,789 | 5 | 1,789 | 0 | 0% |
| 6 | MassMutual Financial Group | 1,605 | 6 | 1,685 | 0 | -5% |
| 7 | Transamerica Retirement Solutions | 1,437 | 9 | 1,322 | 2 | 9% |
| 8 | Prudential Retirement | 1,412 | 7 | 1,437 | -1 | -2% |
| 9 | Vanguard | 1,319 | 10 | 1,258 | 1 | 5% |
| 10 | Newport Group | 1,304 | not in top 10 | not in top 10 | up | na |
Top 401(k) providers notes
*The 2015 PlanSponsor survey is here, and here is the 2016 PlanSponsor survey. And if you want to read about ForUsAll in PlanSponsor, you can read PlansSponsor’s interview and review of ForUsAll here.
5 Best Online Slot Providers in 2020
No one can accurately state the number of online slots currently in existence. For over 20 years, numerous companies have continually developed games and even the producers themselves may be unable to guess their own total number of games, will will try our best to show you what we think are the 5 best online slot providers in 2020
All we can tell you is that you have thousands of games to choose from, therefore, you are bound to find the sort of slot that is ideal for you. While there are a lot of slots out there, quality slots aren’t as prevalent. There may be thousands of slots available but only a handful comes with features worth the player’s time.
In the same vein, some companies offer online slots with greater quality than others. Your time is too important to waste on slots that are low quality, you should give your time only to games of the highest quality. We are here to guide you to the best slots and remove any existing confusion.
We have selected the 5 best slot developing companies in 2020. Continue reading to find out who they are and the games we recommend.
Lots of mechanics like avalanche reels which other companies apply in their games were original creations of NetEnt. One perfect example is the Aloha Cluster Pay Slot. No pay lines can be found in the game and no conventional reels either. What you are tasked with is the creation of a cluster where five similar symbols have to touch each other for you to win. The game is much like match-3 games, you can also win numerous times with one spin.
NetEnt remains one of the most creative brands in the world of iGaming. The brand was established in 1996 in Sweden and has gained a reputation as one of the high-quality game providers in the industry. We have found that all of the NetEnt games perform at a certain quality level with lots of imaginative features. It wouldn’t be possible to conclude this list if NetEnt isn’t a part of it.
Amongst the over 200 games in NetEnt’s collection, we recommend you begin your experience with the classic Gonzo’s Quest. Gonzo’s Quest was launched in 2013 and typifies the creative genius of NetEnt. The game comes with the avalanche reels feature meaning that when a win occurs, the symbols forming part of that win explode and disappear to be replaced by new symbols.
The symbols replacing the ones that disappeared can also create a new winning combination. Simply put, you will have numerous opportunities to win with one spin only. Below are other NetEnt slots that may be worth your time.
- Dead or Alive II
- God’s of Gold: Infinireels
- Starburst
- Divine Fortune
- Twin Spin
Top Slot Game Providers
Red Tiger is a subsidiary of the notable Netent and was founded in 2014. The fact that Red Tiger belongs to Netent isn’t surprising; it is the norm for big brands like Netent to create subsidiaries within themselves to cater to the needs of a particular audience or market and Red Tiger was established to cater to the Asian market.
So far, it has achieved tremendous success and we won’t be surprised if it decides to stand on its own, independent of Netent. Currently, Red Tiger possesses four licenses and 10 EGR awards. Red Tiger is committed to developing Asian-themed slots but you will also find other themes available in the collection.
The best available amongst Red Tiger’s collection of games is Piggy Riches Megaways free slot. It is inspired by the children’s story with the same name. It entered the market in January 2020 and has the megawatts feature incorporated into it. This feature means it offers a total of 117,640 paylines.
This figure is simply mind-blowing! With this game, you will also get unlimited multipliers which is a common feature of the Megaways series. The multipliers available in the bonus round means you can win millions, there is no upper limit, and the RTP rate for Piggy Riches is 94.72%
Here are other Red Tiger Slots you may enjoy.
Top Slot Providers 2019
- Rainbow Jackpot Power Lines
- Reel Keeper
- Gems Gone Wild: Power Reels
- Dynamite Reaches
- Wings of Ra
Betsoft offers a cinematic gaming experience. Founded in 2006, Betsoft was among the first brands to create mobile slots allowing gamers to enjoy casino games on mobile. It has been making use of HTML5 technology since 2016 to allow gamers access to their gaming collection on both desktop and mobile platforms. They have a strong presence in the Romanian and Italian markets with easily recognizable games.
Their games are recognized easily because Betsoft slots possess extraordinary graphics and animation quality. One might even categorize all of their games as 3D slots. If you desire high-quality visuals and CGI-level animations, then play Betsoft games. They have 5 licenses and the fairness of their games is ensured by both GLI and QUINEL.
We recommend Slotfather II to you. It possesses the unique qualities for which Betsoft is famous including premium graphics, humour, creative features, and the potential to win big. Slotfather II offers 243 pay lines and an RTP rate of 96.60%. You have four different bonuses available with Slotfather II namely re-spins, free spins, pick me, and risk game. Slotfather II was released in 2017 but it has quickly become one of the most popular Betsoft slots. Below are other Betsoft games we recommend.
- Wolf Moon Rising
- Quest to the West
- Take the Bank
- Slots Angels
- Back to Venus
Top Slot Providers Online
Play’n Go has been in the iGaming sphere for 15 years and currently employs over 300 people. They have a unique delivery platform known as Omny Channel and all of their games are equipped to run perfectly on mobile and desktop devices. If you pause a game for any reason on your desktop PC, you can continue the same game on your mobile phone. The brand, which has a strong presence in the Latin market, owns a collection of hundreds of games with very creative features.
Play’n Go possess 5 licenses and an IBAS membership. IBAS is the organization that sets the ethical standards in the iGaming sector. Membership of IBAS equips a brand to achieve a level of dependability. If this doesn’t impress you, how about the fact that all of the games from Play’n Go are fairness certified?
We recommend one of the brand’s most popular slots; Book of Dead. It is very popular and has been available in almost all online casinos in the past couple of months. It will appeal greatly to individuals who like Prehistoric-Egypt themed slots. Book of the Dead possesses 5 reels, 10 paylines, and a 94.25% RTP rate.
You can win up to 500,000 Euros. The symbols can enlarge the entire reel on which they appear and you have the option of playing a risk game after a win. The risk game allows you to double your winnings or quadruple them. Have I mentioned that you can also win 10 free spins? Below are other Play’n Go slots you can enjoy and thats why this brand makes our 5 Best Online Slot Providers in 2020.
- Rise of Merlin
- Rise of Olympus
- Troll Hunters 2
- Fire joker
- Reactoonz
Pragmatic play, a company founded in 2015, owns another two subsidiaries, which includes Extreme Live Gaming – concerned with building live casino games, and VSodtCo – tasked with creating virtual sports games.
Pragmatic Play’s oeuvre is made up of 100 video slots and more than 12 bingo games. They utilize HTML5 in the creation of their games and also offer multiplatform support. This means that all games produced by Pragmatic Play can function perfectly on both mobile and desktop devices without losing quality or features. There are 4 licenses and 8 awards to Pragmatic Play’s name.
Top Slot Manufacturers
“Best Supplier of the year” won in 2020 and presented by GA is the last of the 8 awards that Pragmatic play currently holds. Generally speaking, most of the games offered by Pragmatic Play have multiplier payouts and as soon as you begin to win, your numbers can skyrocket quickly.
From Pragmatic Play’s collection of exciting games, we strongly recommend Mustang Gold. This is because the company applied the same mechanics and features used in Mustang Gold in a lot of their games which means that when you play Mustang Gold, you gain knowledge of a slot like Buffalo King.
Mustang Gold comes with 5 reels, 25 paylines, and a 96.53% RTP rate. The game offers 4 fixed jackpots and it is possible to win up to 12,000 times your original bet. You are also eligible to earn 8 free spins with a multiplier. Once you’ve had your fun with Mustang Gold, below are some other games from Pragmatic Play you should enjoy.
- John Hunter and the Book of Tut
- Great Rhino Megaways
- Wolf Gold
- Starz Megaways
- The Dog House
There are lots of other companies we can include on this list like Microgaming and IGT both of which did great in 2020. They are both poised to climb to the top of the queue in the next 6 months. We know that Microgaming is set to release the Power Stacks variant of the Game of Thrones slot and can achieve unforeseen acclaim with this particular offering. This has already happened in the past with Diamond-themed series such as Davinci Diamonds, Double Diamond, and Triple Diamond slots.
We hope you liked this article on 5 Best Online Slot Providers in 2020 – if you want to check out all our recommend casinos where you can play the above games, Please click here