Nearly three years following enactment of the SECURE Act, Voya Financial’s multiple employer solutions are poised to reach a significant milestone.
According to an Oct. 12 announcement, the company has recently reached the thresholds of serving more than 17,000 employers and 1.8 million participants with nearly $90 billion in assets across a variety of multiple employer solutions—and this was as of June 30, 2023.
Voya notes that its growth in the multiple employer solution space—including multiple employer plans (MEPs) and pooled employer plans (PEPs)—has been driven by the firm’s scale and reach across the retirement plan industry, reflecting the company’s commitment to helping employers of all sizes.
Established in 2019 through the SECURE Act, PEPs were first introduced to the market in large part to help close the retirement plan coverage gap. As one of many provisions introduced within the SECURE Act, the creation of PEPs allows for unrelated small businesses to join open MEPs, providing greater access to a 401(k) or similar workplace retirement savings plan to more individuals.
“While providing recordkeeping services to the very first multiple employer arrangement that was established in the market 60 years ago, we have also seen a growing interest—with more than 50 new pooled plan arrangements being established in the past 18 months,” said Ginger Brennan, senior vice president and head of ABA Retirement Funds and Multiple Employer Solutions at Voya Financial.
By expanding access to workplace retirement plans—particularly small business employees—Voya notes that it has seen significant interest in these solutions, with more than 10% of start-up plans moving into multiple employer arrangements.
Most recently, the firm announced it will be serving as the recordkeeper for the first 403(b) PEP to market—the “Secure Retirement 403(b) Pooled Employer Plan” launched by The Platinum 401k, Inc.—following enactment of the SECURE Act 2.0 legislation. That legislation permits 403(b) plans to join a PEP and is designed to provide a pooled plan option to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and healthcare-related entities, broadening retirement plan access for employees within these industries.
“While it’s exciting to see the evolution of the broader pooled plan space, at Voya, we feel the market is still young, and there is significant potential for growth,” added Brennan.
