Aon Pooled Employer Plan Surpasses $5B, Redefining Scale and Outcomes in U.S. Retirement Benefits
CHICAGO, Aug. 21 – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today announced that its pooled employer plan (Aon PEP) has reached $5 billion in live and committed 401(k) assets in the U.S. since its inception in 2021.
The Aon PEP now serves over 130 employers and more than 100,000 eligible employees. This milestone highlights Aon’s leadership and ongoing commitment to delivering future-ready retirement solutions that offer true value and economies of scale for employers and employees alike.
Transforming Retirement Outcomes
“PEPs are transforming how organizations approach retirement benefits,” said Rick Jones, senior partner in Wealth Solutions for Aon and leader of the firm’s pooled employer plan offering. “Employers see immediate advantages from these pooled platforms, including lower costs, significantly reduced administrative workload and improved governance, all of which ultimately deliver better experiences for their teams and enhanced outcomes for employees.”
This scale-driven model not only streamlines operations for organizations but also delivers measurable improvements for employee participants.
Leveraging the collective purchasing power of billions of dollars of assets and over 100,000 eligible participants, the Aon PEP offers a market-leading platform for saving and investing, including lower fees and access to high-quality investment options. Participant behaviors have improved measurably, including an 11 percent increase in enrollment after just one year, and a five percent increase in the amount saved by existing and new participants after 24 months.
The Shift to PEPs: Reducing Burden, Enhancing Results
Managing a standalone 401(k) plan has become increasingly challenging due to growing regulatory complexity, fiduciary risk and administrative demands. Today, over 700,000 U.S. employers are navigating these burdens individually. In fact, recent research found that one-in-four employers cite time, resource constraints and administrative complexity as key barriers to offering new benefits – underscoring the scale of the issue.
In response, many employers are adopting PEPs as a more efficient solution that delivers broader organizational value. Industry research shows that 30 percent of plan sponsors consider simplifying administration and compliance their top reasons for exploring PEPs, while nearly 20 percent cite lowering investment and administrative costs.
PEPs allow employers to offer a competitive 401(k) benefit with significantly less administrative effort, while providing the benefits of economies of scale and professional third-party management. On average, participating employers in the Aon PEP indicate that their 401(k) workload decreased 50-75 percent after joining the plan.
“Without the pressures to maintain internal bench strength to manage a DC plan or worry about potential plan liability in today’s more litigious environment, participants don’t feel that they have the same level of risk as a plan sponsor would simply because they have the weight of another organization doing the heavy lifting,” Beth Jackman, director of global benefits, retirement and mobility at Atmus Filtration Technologies, said. “As a pooled plan provider, Aon is monitoring that far better than an individual would with their limited resources.”
The Future of 401(k) Benefits
As demographic shifts, fee pressures and rising participant expectations reshape the U.S. retirement landscape, organizations need scalable, flexible and efficient solutions to meet their employees where they are.
“We are witnessing a fundamental shift in how retirement benefits are delivered in the U.S.,” said Jennifer Brasher, head of Wealth Solutions in North America for Aon. “Unlike other PEPs in the market today, Aon is at the forefront of this transformation, setting a new standard for scale. As more organizations embrace PEPs, we’re proud to help lead the industry forward – empowering employers of all sizes to offer sustainable retirement security while adapting to the evolving needs of their workforce. This is just the beginning of a new era for workplace retirement benefits.”
To read more information about the Aon PEP, click here.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Through actionable analytic insight, globally integrated Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise, and locally relevant solutions, our colleagues provide clients in over 120 countries with the clarity and confidence to make better risk and people decisions that protect and grow their businesses.
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