Pooled Employer Plans

What Is a Pooled Employer Plan?

A PEP is maintained as a single retirement plan while allowing multiple unrelated employers to participate. This helps achieve economies of scale typically only attained by larger plans.

A PEP operates like a traditional single-employer retirement program. But most administrative and fiduciary duties are outsourced to a Pooled Plan Provider, making it easier for businesses to set up and administer a plan for their employees.

Who Is a Good Candidate for a PEP?

Smaller to midsized employers seeking comprehensive services
Organizations with limited retirement plan knowledge or experience
Employers short on resources who need to offload work
Risk-averse companies that want to outsource responsibilities and limit liability

Learn more about PEP features and get sales resources to help you start selling.

Why Choose a PEP?

Our recent survey shows that employers joining a PEP can lead to a boost in plan satisfaction.¹ Here’s what the research shows:

83% of those with a PEP are satisfied with their PEP experiences.
This reflects a 26% improvement in satisfaction with their retirement plan after joining a PEP.

See more PEP research results.

Benefits for Employers

Lower administrative and fiduciary risk.

Reduce time and resources spent on plan administration tasks.

Potentially reduce costs associated with plan administration and audits.

Gain access to a top-notch recordkeeping platform with clear and reasonable fees.

Benefits for Advisors

Attract clients by leveraging quality product offerings.

Set yourself apart with solutions for employers above or approaching the IRS audit requirement threshold.

Create service and resource efficiencies, allowing more time for high-value client support.

Save time and money by reducing effort spent on client investment reviews.

Sales Resources

Key Features of a Pooled Employer Plan

Administrative Relief

PEPs provide relief by transferring much of the administrative and fiduciary responsibilities to the Pooled Plan Provider. This allows employers to focus on their core business.

Cost Efficiency

Typically, PEPs offer better pricing and investment access through pooling among multiple employers.

PEPs can spread the cost of audits across multiple employers, reducing individual employer costs.

Economies of Scale

PEPs allow multiple unrelated employers to achieve economies of scale typically attained by larger plans.

Fiduciary Risk Transfer ²

The Pooled Plan Provider — not the employer — assumes named fiduciary and plan administrator functions.

Most of the administrative and fiduciary responsibilities are outsourced.

Plan Design Flexibility

Plan design is highly flexible to meet unique goals for retirement benefits.

There is significant flexibility in administrative services to align with employer needs and objectives.