Reuters Money

It’s not the award for Best Picture, or the Nobel Peace Prize, but in certain circles, the nation’s top 401(k) plans carry some serious credibility.

This year’s list of winners, compiled by independent datatracker BrightScope, is dominated by oil companies — the Savings Plan of Saudi Arabia — ranks at the top. Other finalists include ExxonMobil, Anadarko, ConocoPhillips and even BP.

“People might be surprised to see BP on the list,” says Mike Alfred, CEO and co-founder of BrightScope. Since 2005, he says, BP has encouraged employees not to overload their portfolios with company stock. BP’s stock is down more than 20 percent since a major oil spill hit the Gulf Coast last spring.

And while financial services, pharmaceutical and airline companies also dominate the list, one firm that is noticeably absent is benefits-rich Google. The reason why? Brightscope looked at companies with 401(k) plan assets in excess of $1 billion. Google has not officially crossed that threshold…yet. “Next year you can expect Google to be in the top 20, maybe even the top 15,” Alfred says.

To evaluate 401(k) plans, BrightScope runs simulations using a hypothetical 44-year-old employee’s portfolio and assumes the employee has $40,000 in assets. (That’s the national 401(k) account average, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.)

Here are the Top 30 401(k) plans, according to Brightscope: