StratEdge Research
We turn public federal data into benchmarks that quantify operational friction in document-heavy financial operations — so the industry can measure what usually goes unmeasured.
Also reading: AI infrastructure for financial operations →
A benchmark of on-time compliance friction across 875,610 Form 5500 filings. On-time filing rates fall from 59% for the smallest plans to 23% for the largest.
Read the analysis →55%
met the original federal deadline
A benchmark of operating friction across 4,374 U.S. credit unions, from NCUA 5300 Call Report data. The smallest credit unions spend 78.6¢ of every revenue dollar on overhead — nearly 12 points more than $1B+ peers.
Read the analysis →69.1%
of revenue spent on operating overhead
A benchmark of operating friction across 4,336 FDIC-insured banks. Institutions under $100M run at a 79.5% efficiency ratio — 26 points higher overhead than the largest banks.
Read the analysis →55.7%
industry efficiency ratio (Q4 2025)
Extension-window reliance rises from 36% for micro plans to 69% for the largest — a deep cut of the same EFAST2 data behind The StratEdge Index.
Read the analysis →69%
extension reliance, 1,000+ participant plans
The next annual edition will track year-over-year movement in filing timeliness, extension reliance, and audit exposure as the 2024 data set is released.
Media, researchers, and operators: reach out for the underlying figures, methodology, or a custom cut.
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