Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund
Updated Filing received by DOL
Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund, a finance & insurance employer in West Des Moines, Iowa, reported 5,467 participants in its health and welfare plan for plan year 2024. Its Form 5500 shows $3.2M in insurance premiums across 10 contracts and $678,611 in broker commissions and fees. The plan is a mix of insured and self-funded coverage. The Department of Labor received the filing on October 15, 2025, within the extension window.
Who was paid on Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund's plan
Schedule A, Part I lists each broker or agent paid on each insurance contract and the amount. Totals below add every contract Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund filed for 2024.
| Broker or agent | Commissions | Fees | Total | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes Murphy · Des Moines, IA | $392,813 | $96,767 | $489,580 | 10 |
| Avant Specialty Benefits LLC · Des Moines, IA | $116,177 | $0 | $116,177 | 2 |
| Stealth Partner Group LLC · Scottsdale, AZ | $0 | $40,482 | $40,482 | 1 |
| Avant Speciality Benefits LLC · Des Moines, IA | $31,532 | $0 | $31,532 | 1 |
| Reuben Warner Associates · Staten Island, NY | $0 | $840 | $840 | 1 |
Source: DOL Form 5500 Schedule A, Part I (broker commissions and fees), plan year 2024, as published in EBSA's 2024 "Latest" dataset. Part I names whoever the carrier paid, which can be a firm or an individual agent; both are public record. Amounts exclude pay from carriers not tied to a listed contract.
Insurance contracts and carriers
Every insurance contract reported on Schedule A: carrier, what it covers, people covered at year end, earned premium, and broker compensation.
| Carrier · coverage | Covered | Premium | Broker pay | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Insurance Companylife | 4,340 | $1.8M | $235,745 | 13.3% |
| Standard Insurance Companylong-term disability | 3,980 | $937,326 | $91,267 | 9.7% |
| Vision Service Planvision | 2,194 | $538,158 | — | — |
| Sun Life Assurance Company of Canadastop-loss | 4,936 | — | $345,023 | — |
| Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowahealth | 3,938 | — | — | — |
| Ace American Insurance Companycoverage not coded | 571 | — | $1,470 | — |
| Standard Insurance Companylife | 68 | — | $3,405 | — |
| Connections, Inc.coverage not coded | 3,128 | — | — | — |
| Standard Insurance Companylong-term disability | 68 | — | $1,701 | — |
| Delta Dental of Iowadental | 4,412 | — | — | — |
Source: DOL Form 5500 Schedule A, plan year 2024. Self-funded medical coverage has no premium; amounts shown for it are stop-loss or administrative contracts.
How Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund compares
Medians across employers for plan year 2024, the most recent complete year. Commission rates use fully insured medical contracts only; dollar medians use every employer that disclosed broker pay.
Not computable: no insured medical premium on the filing.
Source: BenefitsLedger benchmarks from 58,547 employer health plans with 100 or more participants, plan year 2024. Methodology.
Year over year
| 2023 | 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | 5,540 | 5,467 | −1.3% |
| Premiums filed | $2,943,888 | $3,249,564 | +10.4% |
| Broker commissions + fees | $805,585 | $678,611 | −15.8% |
| Commission rate | — | — | — |
Source: DOL Form 5500 filings for plan years 2023 and 2024.
Filings and timeliness
Plans this employer filed under its EIN with a health benefit code. Large plans are due seven months after the plan year ends, or two and a half months later with an extension; amended filings carry the amendment date, so no timing is asserted for them.
| Plan | Plan year end | Received by DOL | Timing | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cooperative Welfare Benefits Plan#501 · insurance, trust | December 31, 2024 | October 15, 2025 | within extension | 5,467 |
Source: DOL Form 5500 Part I and signature dates; "late" means received after the extended deadline (the 15th day of the tenth month after plan year end). What a late Form 5500 costs.
How much did Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund pay in health insurance broker commissions in 2024?
Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund's 2024 Form 5500 reports $678,611 in broker commissions and fees across 10 insurance contracts ($540,522 in commissions, $138,089 in fees), with Holmes Murphy receiving the largest share.
Is Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund's health plan self-funded or fully insured?
The 2024 filing indicates the plan is a mix of insured and self-funded coverage. Medical coverage is written by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa.
How does Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund's broker compensation compare with similar employers?
A commission-to-premium ratio cannot be computed for Board of Trustees of the Cooperative Welfare Benefits Fund because the filing does not report medical premium on Schedule A (usual for self-funded plans). In dollars, employers with 5,000+ participants that disclosed broker pay reported a median of $458,262.
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Record built October 24, 2026 from U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA Form 5500 datasets (2025, 2024, 2023 plan years, 'Latest' files). Filings can run 7 to 10 months behind the plan year; always confirm against current plan documents. BenefitsLedger is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor. Open the DOL filing search.