Vanguard vs Principal
Zero of fourteen models named Vanguard first on the direct prompt; zero named Principal. Vanguard was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Principal by nine and Vanguard carries 46 labels and Principal 13, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the 401(k) providers page.
By framing
VanguardFirst choices, of fourteen modelsPrincipal
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Vanguard and Principal were named in the same answer twenty-one times, of the 122 answers naming Vanguard and the 30 naming Principal. In those answers Principal took the first choice one time and Vanguard four.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | |||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | |||||
| Perplexity Sonar | ||||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | ||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-6 Luna | | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | |
Vanguard Principal first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Vanguard on the left and Principal on the right.The direct prompt
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
What the models said about Vanguard
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“Vanguard is excellent for investing but not recommended for 401(k) administration” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“their 401(k) administration has drawn criticism... recommended using Vanguard funds through another provider instead” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“For Large/Midsize Businesses: Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, and Charles Schwab are renowned for offering excellent low-cost institutional index funds.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“consider providers like Vanguard or Fidelity, which are known for lower fees and better investment options” Mistral Small · negative prompt · first choice
“Want lowest-cost investing and a very large, established provider? Look at Vanguard.” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Principal
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Common Examples: *Transamerica, Principal, John Hancock, Voya, Equitable, and Lincoln Financial*.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Principal or Fidelity if you want comprehensive features, broad investment options, and strong institutional support” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Principal Financial Group offers 401(k) recordkeeping mostly to small and mid-size businesses.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · alternative
“Want broad plan design options and employee engagement tools? Look at Principal.” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · alternative
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.