Pooled Employer Plans
Choosing the Right Retirement Plan for Your Company
Traditional 401(K) Plan Vs. Pooled Employer Plan (PEP)
A well-designed retirement plan strengthens your total rewards strategy by helping you attract and retain talent, support employee financial wellness, and create tax advantages for your business and your employees. Understanding your options allows you to balance flexibility, administrative responsibility, and fiduciary oversight.
- Traditional 401(k) Plans are most commonly offered through what is known as a single-employer plan. In this structure, the employer is solely responsible for the plan’s investments, compliance, and administration and retains fiduciary liability, although service providers may be engaged to assist, sometimes in a fiduciary capacity.
- Pooled Employer Plans are an alternative structure that is gaining traction among employers. A PEP allows unrelated businesses to join together in a single retirement plan, administered by a Pooled Plan Provider (PPP). Compared to a traditional 401(k), a PEP can help to significantly reduce the administrative burden, simplify compliance, minimize audit burden, and shift most fiduciary responsibilities (and liability) away from the employer.
PEP: Key Benefits
A PEP can offer businesses a more efficient way to deliver competitive retirement benefits compared to a traditional 401(k) plan. Key advantages include:
- Reduced Fiduciary Liability: While the employer will retain the fiduciary duty to prudently select and monitor the PPP and 3(38) Investment Manager, most fiduciary responsibilities shift to the PPP, allowing operational experts to manage plan oversight and compliance.
- Cost Efficiency for Audit Plans: One audit covers the entire plan, with shared audit costs across participating employers. The PPP, not the employer, is responsible for selecting and engaging the auditor. Audit cost efficiency may increase as additional employers participate.
- Centralized Administration: The PPP manages compliance, reporting, daily administration, and certain other fiduciary duties.
- Fewer Employer Responsibilities: The primary responsibilities the adopting employer retains are selecting and monitoring the PPP and 3(38) Investment Manager, submitting timely and accurate payroll and census data (made easier with payroll integration), and maintaining an ERISA fidelity bond.
Who Should Consider a PEP?
Companies looking to reduce the complexity of their existing 401(k) plan
Employers aiming to reduce certain fiduciary responsibilities and related personal liability
Business owners without a retirement plan seeking a streamlined solution
Meet the Retirebridge 401(K) Plan
RetireBridge was designed by a team of independent service providers, including Aldrich Wealth. As the 3(38) Investment Manager, Aldrich Wealth assumes fiduciary responsibility for investment selection and monitoring. Unlike many off-the-shelf PEPs, RetireBridge allows employers to customize plan provisions within a shared framework while outsourcing much of the day-to-day administration.
As an adopting employer, you retain oversight of the PPP and 3(38) Investment Manager, while other plan operations are handled by specialized providers:
- Pooled Plan Provider | Group Plan Systems: Oversees plan compliance, engages with the auditor and files the annual Form 5500. Group Plan Systems also manages the plan’s recordkeeper and third-party administrator.
- Recordkeeper & Custodian | Empower: Maintains plan records, processes transactions, and provides participants with secure online access to view and manage their retirement accounts.
- Third Party Administrator | Prime Pensions, Inc: Maintains the plan document, performs compliance testing, and handles key administrative tasks.
- Investment Manager | Aldrich Wealth: Serves as the 3(38) Investment Manager and assumes fiduciary responsibility for investment selection and monitoring
This structure allows employers to streamline plan management and reduce administrative burden without sacrificing flexibility or fiduciary oversight:
What's Right for Your Company?
At Aldrich Wealth, we provide fiduciary investment advisory services for traditional 401(k) plans and through the RetireBridge 401(k) Plan. Whether you want greater control or reduced administrative responsibility, we help align your retirement plan with your company’s goals.
This material is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, recommendation, or investment advice. Aldrich Wealth is an SEC registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
Statements regarding reduced administrative burden, fiduciary relief, or cost efficiency refer to the general structure of pooled employer plans and may not apply to every business. Aldrich Wealth is not affiliated with other service providers engaged within the RetireBridge 401(k) Plan. Employers participating in a PEP retain fiduciary responsibility for prudently selecting and monitoring the PPP and the ERISA Section 3(38) Investment Manager and must enter into separate agreements with applicable service providers. Aldrich Wealth serves as a discretionary investment manager under ERISA Section 3(38) for RetireBridge 401(k) Plan, does not act as the PPP, and does not supervise or oversee the PPP or other service providers.
Meet Our Professionals
Director of Corporate Retirement Plans
Kathy Peterson, CPFA™, AIF®, CRPC®
Aldrich Wealth LP
Kathy Peterson has been leveraging her 20+ years of experience in the financial and retirement plan industry at Aldrich Wealth since 2019. Throughout her career, she has served as an investment advisor, education consultant, and as a plan administrator and fiduciary. Her experience working with thousands of participants as they plan for and reach their… Read more Kathy Peterson, CPFA™, AIF®, CRPC®
Kathy's Specialization
- Corporate retirement plans
- Participant education
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM)
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®)
- Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®)
Lead Retirement Plan Consultant
Neil Plein, CPFA™, AIF®
Aldrich Wealth LP
Neil is a Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) who acts as the quarterback of a retirement plan. He guides employers through the overall plan management with the knowledge to do a deep dive into any aspect of plan operation. Neil connects the dots between internal staff and external service providers… Read more Neil Plein, CPFA™, AIF®
Neil's Specialization
- Corporate retirement plans
- Recordkeeper selection
- Strategic planning and consultation
- One-to-one consulting participant meetings
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM)
- Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®)
Lead Retirement Plan Consultant
Neil Plein, CPFA™, AIF®
Aldrich Wealth LP
Neil is a Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) who acts as the quarterback of a retirement plan. He guides employers through the overall plan management with the knowledge to do a deep dive into any aspect of plan operation. Neil connects the dots between internal staff and external service providers… Read more Neil Plein, CPFA™, AIF®
Neil's Specialization
- Corporate retirement plans
- Recordkeeper selection
- Strategic planning and consultation
- One-to-one consulting participant meetings
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM)
- Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®)
Lead Retirement Plan Consultant
Casey McKillip, MBA, CHSA®, CPFA™, AIF®
Aldrich Wealth LP
Before joining Aldrich Wealth, Casey was a retirement plan consultant and portfolio manager for a Northwest-based investment advisory firm and spent some time with a national wealth management firm. His broad range of knowledge includes retirement plan fiduciary oversight, investment research, portfolio construction as well as providing record keeper platform research, fee analysis, revenue sharing,… Read more Casey McKillip, MBA, CHSA®, CPFA™, AIF®
Casey's Specialization
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA™)
- Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®)
- Retirement plan consulting
- Fiduciary oversight
- Investment research
- Portfolio construction
- Recordkeeper platform research
- Fee analysis
- Policy statement review
Retirement Plan Consultant
Dann Horowitz, CPFA™, AIF®
Aldrich Wealth LP
Dann Horowitz joined Aldrich Wealth in 2022. He has over 25 years of experience across multiple industries, including investment management, professional services, engineering, and global human resource consulting in the United States and internationally in Canada and the United Kingdom. He is a Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFATM) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®). Dann obtained… Read more Dann Horowitz, CPFA™, AIF®
Dann 's Specialization
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA™)
- Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®)
- Client services and support
- Project management and administration
- Executive support
