Sherwin-Williams 401(k) match, vesting and fees

Match & features: plan year 2023 filingAssets, participants & fees: plan year 2024 filingThe Sherwin-Williams Company 401(k) Plan · Plan 001 · EIN 34-0526850Updated Oct 2026

What Sherwin-Williams' 401(k) plan says about matching contributions

The Company makes matching contributions of 100% on the first 6% of eligible employee contributions beginning the quarter following the employees' one-year anniversary with the Company. Participants direct the investment of Company matching contributions into various investment options offered by the Plan. In the absence of participant direction, Company matching contributions are directed to Company common stock.
From the independent auditor's report attached to the plan year 2023 Form 5500, page 31. Open page 31 of the filing (PDF) ↗

Quoted directly from the filing. Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.

Our plain-English summary appears once a person has reviewed it against the filing. How we check · Report a correction
$172,887
Average account balance
62,829
Participants (end of year)
$10.6B
Plan assets (end of year)
0.03%
Admin expenses ÷ assets

Plan features

Indented passages are quoted word for word from the audit report; plan terms may have changed since, so check your current Summary Plan Description.

Employer matchQuoted from the filing above2023 audit report, p. 31 ↗
Match vesting
Participant contributions to the Plan are 100% vested. Participants hired or rehired prior to January 1, 2017 are 100% vested in Company matching contributions. Participants hired or rehired on or after January 1, 2017 are 100% vested in Company matching contributions after completing three years of vesting service. The vesting service period begins at a participant's hire or adjusted service date. There is no partial vesting. Participants that leave the Company before completing three years of vesting service forfeit all Company contributions made on their behalf.
2023 audit report, p. 31 ↗
Automatic enrollment
Eligible employees hired or rehired by the Company are automatically enrolled in the Plan. Employee contributions are established at 3% of pre-tax earnings. Eligible new hires may change the pre-selected enrollment option, including all or a portion of the contribution source to post-tax earnings or choose not to participate in the Plan prior to being automatically enrolled. If new hires choose not to change the automatic enrollment employee contribution level of 3%, the employee contribution level will increase at the beginning of each subsequent plan year by 1%, until either the employee individually changes the employee contribution level or the employee contribution level reaches the maximum automatic employee contribution level. The maximum automatic employee contribution level is 10%.
2023 audit report, p. 31 ↗
Loans
The Plan permits eligible employees to borrow from the vested benefit portion of their accounts up to the lesser of: (a) $50,000, reduced by certain outstanding loans to the eligible employee under the Plan, or (b) one half of the vested benefit portion of the eligible employee's account under the Plan.
2023 audit report, p. 32 ↗
RecordkeeperFidelity Inv Inst Ops Co, Inc2024 Schedule C ↗
Independent auditorCrowe LLP (unmodified opinion)2024 Schedule H ↗
Plan type and status401(k) · Active2024 Form 5500 ↗

Match, vesting and other plan features are from the plan year 2023 filing's audit report (the latest one extracted so far). Rows cited to the Form 5500 and its schedules are from the plan year 2024 filing.

Our plain-English summary appears once a person has reviewed it against the filing. How we check · Report a correction

How the plan compares

Plan year 2024 medians for 28 defined-contribution plans in manufacturing with 50,000 or more participants.

Sherwin-Williams: employer contribution per participant$2,623
Peer median$4,356
Sherwin-Williams: average balance$172,887
Peer median$263,591
Sherwin-Williams: admin expenses ÷ assets0.03%
Peer median0.01%

Admin expenses are the plan's reported administrative expenses divided by its assets; they do not include fund expense ratios.

Plan history

Plan assets went from $11.8B at the end of plan year 2021 to $10.6B at the end of plan year 2024.

$11.8B2021$8.3B2022$10.1B2023$10.6B2024
End-of-year figures from each plan year's Form 5500 filing for the Sherwin-Williams plan.
Plan yearParticipantsAssetsEmployer contributionsPer participantAdmin expense ratioMatch formulaFiling
202462,829$10.6B$160M$2,6230.03%Not publishedForm 5500 ↗
202363,424$10.1B$150M$2,4500.03%Quoted in the audit report, p. 31 ↗Form 5500 ↗
202263,090$8.3B$138M$2,2790.03%Not publishedForm 5500 ↗
202160,004$11.8B$132M$2,2860.02%Not publishedForm 5500 ↗

Other Sherwin-Williams plans (3)

Each plan files its own Form 5500. Figures are from each plan's latest filing.

The Sherwin-Williams Company Hourly 401(k) Plan

Plan 022 · EIN 34-0526850 · plan year 2024 filing
$55,284
Average account balance
1,102
Participants (end of year)
$58.3M
Plan assets (end of year)
0.02%
Admin expenses ÷ assets

Plan features

Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.

Independent auditorCrowe LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope)Schedule H ↗
Plan type and status401(k) · ActiveForm 5500 ↗

The Sherwin-Williams Company Salaried Employees' Revised Pension Investment Plan

Plan 010 · EIN 34-0526850 · plan year 2024 filing
$41,705
Average account balance
52,893
Participants (end of year)
$1.7B
Plan assets (end of year)
0.08%
Admin expenses ÷ assets

Plan features

Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.

RecordkeeperFidelity Inv Inst Ops Co, IncSchedule C ↗
Independent auditorCrowe LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope)Schedule H ↗
Plan type and statusRetirement · ActiveForm 5500 ↗

The Sherwin-Williams Company Employees' Pension Plan

Plan 045 · EIN 34-0526850 · plan year 2024 filing
$107,322
Average account balance
1,385
Participants (end of year)
$149M
Plan assets (end of year)
0.48%
Admin expenses ÷ assets

Plan features

Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.

Independent auditorCrowe LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope)Schedule H ↗
Plan type and statusPension (defined benefit) · ActiveForm 5500 ↗

Common questions

Does Sherwin-Williams match 401(k) contributions?

The audit report attached to the The Sherwin-Williams Company 401(k) Plan's plan year 2023 Form 5500, page 31 says: “The Company makes matching contributions of 100% on the first 6% of eligible employee contributions beginning the quarter following the employees' one-year anniversary with the Company. Participants direct the investment of Company matching contributions into various investment options offered by the Plan. In the absence of participant direction, Company matching contributions are directed to Company common stock.” Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.

When is the Sherwin-Williams 401(k) match vested?

The audit report attached to the plan year 2023 Form 5500, page 31 says: “Participant contributions to the Plan are 100% vested. Participants hired or rehired prior to January 1, 2017 are 100% vested in Company matching contributions. Participants hired or rehired on or after January 1, 2017 are 100% vested in Company matching contributions after completing three years of vesting service. The vesting service period begins at a participant's hire or adjusted service date. There is no partial vesting. Participants that leave the Company before completing three years of vesting service forfeit all Company contributions made on their behalf.”

Who manages the Sherwin-Williams 401(k)?

The recordkeeper listed on Schedule C of the plan year 2024 filing is Fidelity Inv Inst Ops Co, Inc. The plan administrator is Administration Committee.

I left Sherwin-Williams. How do I find my old 401(k)?

Your account stays in the plan until you move it. Contact the plan administrator (Administration Committee, (216) 566-2000) or the recordkeeper, Fidelity Inv Inst Ops Co, Inc. The Sherwin-Williams old 401(k) page lists the contacts from every plan filing. Find an old Sherwin-Williams 401(k)

Data from the public Form 5500 annual reports Sherwin-Williams filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (plan years 2021 and 2022 and 2023 and 2024) and, where noted, the attached independent auditor's report. Plan terms may have changed since the filing; check your current Summary Plan Description. PlanFacts is not affiliated with Sherwin-Williams. Not financial advice. Report a correction · Methodology