Ascensus MEPs and PEPs
As a financial advisor, you need retirement plan solutions that scale with your business. Multiple and pooled employer plans (MEPs and PEPs) offer a smarter way to serve your clients—streamlining administration and reducing fiduciary risk, while maximizing your reach and value.
Unlock efficiency and scale with pooled plans
Our MEP and PEP solutions can help advisors reduce complexity and deliver more competitive retirement plan options at scale. Whether you're looking to grow your book of business or streamline plan oversight, our pooled plan solutions are designed with your success in mind.
Profiling your clients
MEPs and PEPs are well-suited for clients who want to simplify retirement plan management while maximizing value. These plan types may be ideal for clients that are:
New to retirement plans
Clients exploring their first plan and looking to minimize cost, time, and fiduciary responsibility.
Seeking operational relief
Current plan sponsors aiming to reduce expenses and delegate fiduciary oversight to experts.
Turnkey-minded
Clients that prefer a streamlined, ready-to-go solution without the need for custom documents or features.
MEP vs. PEP comparison
Choosing the right pooled retirement plan structure can help you scale your advisory business more efficiently. Use the comparison below to evaluate how traditional 401(k) plans, MEPs, and PEPs differ so you can align recommendations with your clients’ needs and your firm’s goals.
Key Characteristics
Traditional 401(k) Plans
Single employers or groups of related employers
Plan sponsor
Plan sponsor (can hire a third party)
Fully customizable
Filed by employer
MEPs
Unrelated employers with sufficient commonality
MEP sponsor
MEP sponsor or lead employer
Customizable for adopting employers
Filed by lead employer
PEPs
Unrelated employers
Pooled Plan Provider (PPP)
PPP
Some customization available depending on PPP and plan size
Filed by PPP
Related Resources
Introduction to MEPs and PEPs
Learn more about how MEPs and PEPs can benefit both advisors and their clients.
Showcase the value of MEPs and PEPs to clients
As an advisor, you play a key role in helping clients evaluate and implement the right pooled retirement plan. Use these benefits to guide client conversations and demonstrate how these plans can support both business goals and employee engagement:
Benefits for employers
Minimize fiduciary exposure with integrated support from a 402(a) named fiduciary, 3(16) administrative fiduciary, and 3(38) investment fiduciary.
Simplify operations with integrated trust, custody, and payroll services.
Deliver a comprehensive solution with digital plan access and nonqualified plan integration.
Benefits for employees
Access an intuitive website and responsive call center support.
Navigate resources with bilingual support and a Spanish-language website.
Engage with participant education, financial wellness tools, and integrated managed account services.