When dealing with companies that may act as an adopting employer for a multiple employer plan (MEP) or pooled employer plan (PEP), I think the worst thing you can do is to market the MEP and PEP to a company. You think I’m crazy, but I’m not.
Whether a plan you’re selling is a single plan, a MEP, or a PEP, a potential client doesn’t care. They have limited time to discuss this and they could care less that a pooled plan provider has to file their status with the Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor. They don’t want to be bogged down with the details, they want to know solutions for retirement savings that could be a fit for them. Selling a PEP/MEP is the same as selling ERISA §3(16) and 3(38) solutions, what you would be selling is liability protection. Companies don’t need to know or care about the nuances of a MEP/PEP, all they care about what joining such a plan means to them. Cost savings should be talked about if cost savings are actual, not based on pipe dreams that are dependent on the plans achieving a certain asset size.
Companies want simple solutions they understand, not treatises on the SECURE Act and what it means for Open and Closed MEPs. Just my two cents.
