Recordkeeper Paychex, Inc. announced this week it has broken the 100,000 plateau for the number of 401k clients served, now administering plans for 103,595 clients as of April 2022.
The Rochester, N.Y.-based provider of integrated human capital management software solutions for human resources, payroll, benefits, and insurance services is one of the largest 401k recordkeepers in the U.S. by total number of plans served.
Paychex’s growth in 401k recordkeeping has been driven in part by the introduction of the company’s Pooled Employer Plan (PEP) in early 2021. Launched as a result of the SECURE Act of 2019, the Paychex PEP provides business owners a simple, cost-effective 401k plan option. Paychex was one of the first to introduce a PEP among retirement plan providers.
“In today’s competitive hiring environment, offering a retirement savings benefit is not a luxury; it’s a necessity to attract and retain talent. On top of that, we continue to see more employers offer plans and states adopt mandated retirement savings programs intended to help address the nation’s retirement savings crisis,” said Michael Majors, vice president, human resource services, Paychex. “As the largest 401k recordkeeper in the U.S., we listen to our clients’ needs and work with them to offer the best 401k plan for their employees and their business.”
Among the 401k plan features Paychex offers for any size business are:
- Full Paychex integration for increased efficiency: The ability to integrate retirement into the full suite of solutions from Paychex, including payroll, human resource services, insurance, and more through Paychex Flex, can help plan sponsors reduce administrative time and cost, improve reporting, and meet fiduciary obligations.
- Expanded participant accessibility and convenient investment management: With the ability to enroll in a plan in a few simple clicks, participants can view or change 401k options from any device. Participants can also maximize the potential for their retirement savings through a host of tools, including savings calculators, automatic contribution increases, and more. Additionally, participants have access to personalized investment advice from third-party experts.
- Fee transparency: Paychex provides each plan administrator a 401k plan fee disclosure and prepares and provides plan administrators with a required participant fee disclosure. With a return of concessions feature, most 401k plans with Paychex return revenue sharing payments to the plan, ensuring fee equalization, share class neutrality, and fee transparency.
- Plan accessibility across devices: Paychex’s mobile-first technology enables plan participants to view and manage their retirement plan from anywhere. Participants can easily access their account balance, set up loans, view loan information, manage investments, adjust deferral amounts, update personal account information, and use calculators to help ensure they are on track to achieve their retirement goals all from their mobile device.
- Investment flexibility and fiduciary solutions: Plan sponsors can choose their own plan investments from a diverse range of thousands of choices, with no proprietary requirements. Paychex also provides plan sponsors with access to optional 3(21) and 3(38) third party service providers which help plan sponsors select investment choices and help alleviate fiduciary risk.
- Pooled Employer 401k Plan option: Paychex launched the Paychex Pooled Employer 401k Plan (PEP) in January 2021, giving business owners a simple, cost-effective plan option. Paychex acts as both plan sponsor and plan administrator of the PEP, relieving employers of significant fiduciary and most administrative burdens. The PEP is especially well-suited for small to mid-sized businesses that may have been unable to offer a retirement plan previously due to the lack of economical plan options, time, or resources needed to manage complex plan administration. PEPs also offer more options than state-mandated retirement savings programs. PEPs can also be a beneficial option for employers with an existing plan looking to reduce fiduciary and administrative responsibilities. Since its launch, the Paychex PEP has added more than 10,000 clients.
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