401(k) Monitor

Capital One Financial Corporation Associate Savings Plan

Capital One Financial Corporation · Mclean, VA · EIN 541719854 · Plan 002 · Form 5500 for plan year 2024

What Capital One Financial put into the plan, per active participant

$10,312

Capital One Financial Corporation put $10,312 into this plan for each of its 45,199 active participants in plan year 2024. That is the whole employer side, matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions and reallocated forfeitures together, because the Form 5500 reports them on one line, so it is not the match rate.

0 · least per person100 · most per person

Capital One Financial put in more per active participant than 93% of plans with 5,000+ participants at holding companies. The middle plan in that group of 62 reported $4,209. Holding companies comes from business code 551112, which Capital One Financial Corporation entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.

What this figure cannot separate: how much Capital One Financial pays, and how much it puts in

This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.

This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.

Source: Form 5500 filing for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, received by the DOL October 10, 2025 · DOL EFAST2

The $10,312 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Capital One Financial Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula on its own for plan year 2025: the section below reads $2,228 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.

What the plan cost, per participant

$214.17

The plan paid $214.17 per participant in plan-paid administrative expenses in plan year 2024, more expensive than 98% of plans with 5,000+ participants. The middle plan of that size paid $54.84.

Why a plan this big pays less per person before anything else

Bigger plans pay less per head by construction, because the same negotiated bill divides across more people. That is why this ranking sits inside the plan's own size cohort and is never taken across all plans.

Schedule H reports only what came out of plan assets. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees taken inside fund expense ratios, never appear here, so this is a floor and not the all-in cost.

401(k) Monitor Score

66 out of 100

Where this plan stands against plans of its size and industry on two amounts its Form 5500 reports: employer money in per active person, and plan-paid cost per person. It reads no match formula, no vesting schedule and no fund lineup, because a Form 5500 states none of them.

  • What the employer put in, per active participant: $10,312. Higher than 93% of plans with 5,000+ participants at holding companies.
  • What the plan cost, per participant: $214. Cheaper than 2% of plans with 5,000+ participants.

How this score is built

On this page: the match and vesting terms · what to check next · every figure on the filing · fees itemised · the plans this one is ranked against · service providers

The match and vesting terms, from a Form 11-K

The match formula and the vesting schedule are stated in a Form 11-K, which is filed only by employers whose plan holds company stock. A Form 5500 reports neither.

What Capital One Financial puts in

$2,228

a year, at a $49,500 salary.

The match paragraph, word for word
Contribution Type Contribution Structure 1. Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution • 3% of eligible compensation 2. Company matching contribution • Up to 3% of eligible compensation, calculated as 100% Company match on the first 3% of associate deferrals • Up to 4.5% of eligible compensation, calculated as 50% Company match on the next 3% of associate deferrals Total annual contribution opportunity • Maximum of 7.5% of eligible compensation The basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document, is made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan. In addition, the Company makes matching contributions of up to 4.5% of a participant’s eligible compensation. The Company makes “true-up” matching contributions for participants who did not receive the full match to which participants would have been entitled if participants had contributed to the Plan ratably throughout the year. Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions to the Plan during the Plan year are eligible for the Company matching contributions. The Company makes contributions on a per-pay period basis and new employees become immediately eligible for the Company’s matching contributions. All Company contributions are cash contributions.

What you contribute to collect all of it

Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.

That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.

Vesting score

71.43 out of 100

How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 32% of the 253 schedules we have scored.

It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.

Vesting scheduleCliff, 2 years

Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.

Vesting, word for word
Participant contributions and the Company’s basic safe-harbor non-elective contributions vest immediately, along with earnings on those contributions. The Company’s matching contributions plus actual earnings thereon vest after two years of service.
Wait before the match startsNo wait

The match starts with the job. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.

Eligibility, word for word
The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering all employees of the Company who are age 18 or older (including any related companies that adopt the Plan). Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan immediately upon hire unless they elect to opt-out of Plan participation.
True-up after year endStated in the filing

The plan tops the match up after year end, so contributing unevenly through the year does not cost the worker part of it.

The same match paragraph, word for word
Contribution Type Contribution Structure 1. Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution • 3% of eligible compensation 2. Company matching contribution • Up to 3% of eligible compensation, calculated as 100% Company match on the first 3% of associate deferrals • Up to 4.5% of eligible compensation, calculated as 50% Company match on the next 3% of associate deferrals Total annual contribution opportunity • Maximum of 7.5% of eligible compensation The basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document, is made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan. In addition, the Company makes matching contributions of up to 4.5% of a participant’s eligible compensation. The Company makes “true-up” matching contributions for participants who did not receive the full match to which participants would have been entitled if participants had contributed to the Plan ratably throughout the year. Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions to the Plan during the Plan year are eligible for the Company matching contributions. The Company makes contributions on a per-pay period basis and new employees become immediately eligible for the Company’s matching contributions. All Company contributions are cash contributions.

The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.

The formula, the six-year window and a worked example

What the plan costs, against plans of its size

98th percentile

$214.17 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 98% of plans with 5,000+ participants.

The match, vesting and eligibility terms above are read from the Form 11-K filed by Capital One Financial Corporation, whose page states the full formula, the vesting schedule and the sentence behind each one.

What to check next

  • Collecting the whole match

    Capital One Financial’s Form 11-K pays the whole match at 6% of pay, which is $2,228 a year at a $49,500 salary and scales with your own. Your payslip and your Fidelity NetBenefits account both show the rate you set. A rate below 6% collects less than the whole match.

    That Form 11-K covers plan year 2025. The plan’s Summary Plan Description states the terms in force, and the plan administrator must provide it to participants on request.

  • What to ask about the fees

    This plan paid $214.17 per participant out of plan assets, more than 98% of plans with 5,000+ participants, where the middle plan paid $54.84. The filing does not say what the difference buys. Two questions put that to a benefits or HR team: what the recordkeeping and administration contract costs, and how much of it comes out of participant accounts rather than being paid by Capital One Financial. The lines this total is made of are further down.

  • Your own numbers are not on this page

    Every figure here is the whole plan for plan year 2024, taken from one filing and divided by headcounts. Your own contribution rate, your balance and the fees taken from your account are on your recordkeeper’s site, which this filing names as Fidelity NetBenefits. What you may put in during a year is set by the IRS and not by the plan: this year’s limits ↗.

Key figures

From Schedule H of Form 5500 filing 20251010111631NAL0004542995001, plan year 2024.
Total plan assets, end of year$12,049,528,180
Net assets$11,993,429,563
Participants, beginning of year66,717
Of which active45,199
Plan typeSingle employer
Size cohortThe peer group we rank fees against.5,000+ participants
Employer share of the money that went in, plan year 2024The rest came from employees, who put in $559,877,149. The share falls when employees save more, so a plan whose staff contribute heavily reads lower here through no act of the employer. It is printed as a fact and it is not part of the score.45%

Plan-paid administrative expenses

The plan paid $14,288,715 in administrative expenses in plan year 2024, across 66,717 participants: $214.17 per participant.

Contract administrator fees$17,400
Professional feesnot reported in filing
Investment management fees$13,567,986
Other administrative fees$122,321

These are plan-paid expenses from Schedule H only. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees embedded in fund expense ratios, never appear here. This figure is a floor, not the all-in cost, and a low number is not “free”.

The plans this one is ranked against

Fees on this page are ranked against the 5,000+ participant cohort, where the median plan pays $54.84 per participant. The sponsor files from Virginia, one of 1,765 plans on file there, at a median of $142.39 per participant. Its business code places the plan at holding companies, one of 643 on file, which run to a median of $106.24.

Plans of a similar size in Virginia

The plans nearest this one by participant count, out of 71 in its peer group. Cost per participant is each plan’s own Schedule H figure, and a filing that reported no administrative expenses says so instead of showing a zero.
PlanParticipantsCost per participant
Dollar Tree Retirement Savings PlanDollar Tree, Inc.83,276$17.32
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. 401(k) PlanAdvance Stores Company, Inc.67,469$21.97
General Dynamics Corporation 401(k) Plan 6.0General Dynamics Corporation65,411$71.76
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. Employees' Capital Accumulation PlanBooz Allen Hamilton Inc.54,520$99.62

Service providers (Schedule C)

Recordkeeper: Fidelity Investments (as filed: “FIDELITY INVESTMENTS INSTITUTIONAL”)

10,593 plans on file name Fidelity Investments as their recordkeeper, at a median of $97.71 per participant.

Providers from Schedule C, Part 1, Item 2 of filing 20251010111631NAL0004542995001. Direct compensation is paid from plan assets. Amounts in USD.
ProviderService codesDirect comp. ($)Indirect comp. ($)
Mercer Investments LLC282,972,635not reported
Strategic Advisors, Inc.272,771,599not reported
Fidelity Investments Institutional65, 71, 64, 60, 37609,5380
Newport Trust Company28135,000not reported

Source

DatasetDOL EFAST2 Form 5500 bulk data (FOIA)
Form year2024
Filing ACK_ID20251010111631NAL0004542995001
Dataset last refreshedJuly 28, 2026

Bulk dataset at askebsa.dol.gov ↗ · Look up the filing on EFAST2 ↗

Filings lag by design: a plan can file up to 9½ months after its year ends, so this is the newest data on file. Why filings lag

Cite this page

401(k) Monitor, "Capital One Financial Corporation Associate Savings Plan: Form 5500 facts", from DOL EFAST2 filing 20251010111631NAL0004542995001, plan year ended December 31, 2024. 401(k) Monitor Score 66 out of 100 (exact value 66.04).