ADP has announced the launch of its Save4Retirement Pooled Employer Plan (PEP), a retirement solution designed to allow multiple unrelated employers to participate in a single, professionally managed 401(k) plan. The new offering aims to reduce administrative work and fiduciary risk for employers by shifting significant responsibilities to the pooled plan provider.
Chris Magno, senior vice president and general manager of ADP Retirement Services, stated, “Employers continue to look for ways to offer robust retirement plan benefits without adding administrative burden or fiduciary exposure. Our new Pooled Employer Plan brings together scale, integration, and fiduciary support, giving investment advisors a flexible structure to help their clients manage plan costs while offering a well-governed retirement plan.”
The Save4Retirement PEP designates Pentegra as the pooled plan provider responsible for core administrative fiduciary duties. These include authorizing distributions, conducting annual compliance tests, filing Form 5500s, and managing audits. This arrangement moves much of the administrative workload from employers to Pentegra and distributes costs among participating businesses.
Mesirow serves as the ERISA 3(38) investment manager for the plan. In this role, Mesirow oversees fund selection and ongoing investment monitoring while providing quarterly reporting packages for transparency and documentation of fiduciary oversight.
Independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) maintain an advisory role under this structure. They continue consulting with employers on plan features and collaborate with ADP’s Participant Success Organization on participant enrollment and education efforts. The platform allows RIAs to manage multiple clients in one place, which is intended to simplify oversight and reduce complexity.
The Save4Retirement PEP integrates with ADP’s payroll and recordkeeping systems. This real-time data synchronization helps ensure that transactions such as employee deferrals or changes in investment elections are accurately processed based on current payroll information.
ADP describes itself as a global leader in HR and payroll solutions serving more than 1.1 million clients across over 140 countries.
Pentegra provides oversight as the pooled plan provider but is not affiliated with ADP. Mesirow offers investment management services independently from both ADP and Pentegra.
More information about the Save4Retirement PEP can be found at ADP.com/RetirementServices.
