Every employer benefit plan files a Form 5500 naming its broker of record. Hold two years, compare them properly, and you can see which accounts changed hands — and what the commission was worth.
Plan years 2023 and 2024, from U.S. Department of Labor filings.
California alone accounts for 803 verified moves, with a median $42,707 of annual commission attached and $62M in play.
Established vendors sell a snapshot of who holds which plan today. That tells a broker who to chase. A change tells them the account is winnable, because it has already moved once.
It also has a second reader built in: it tells the losing firm that it is bleeding, and where.
Getting this wrong does not cost you a missed row — it sends a producer to pitch an account that never moved, and they find out on the first phone call. Most of what looks like a change is not one.
We removed 40% of the raw feed as false changes before we would ship it.
We would rather show you records than describe them. Tell us the state or the practice area and we will send a short sample to look at — free, no invoice, and we will not add you to a list.