ASPPA Announces Qualified Pooled Plan Professional Credential

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries announced a new credential intended to help retirement plan professionals support the growing markets for multiple employer plans and pooled employer plans.

The Qualified Pooled Plan Professional designation is intended to help professionals evaluate pooled plan structures, support employer onboarding and transitions, understand governance and compliance responsibilities, and navigate the operational complexities of managing multiple employers within a shared arrangement, according to the announcement.

“ASPPA’s new credential is for professionals who want job-ready expertise in pooled plans,” said Kelsey Mayo, the ASPPA’s executive director, in a statement. “It’s useful not only for pooled plan providers, but also for [third-party administrators], advisers, recordkeepers, compliance teams and others who support employers working with MEPs and PEPs.”

To earn the credential, professionals must take a 15-to-20-hour course that features: 12 online education modules, a practice exam, and an online proctored credentialing exam.  

Employers have increasingly turned to MEPs and PEPs in recent years as options for providing their employees the opportunity to accumulate retirement savings in a tax-preferred plan.

According to the 2026 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey, 56,010 employers serving more than 2.3 million participants across 1,420 MEPs held $159 billion in assets at year-end 2025. PEPs held $34 billion in assets—double the year-end 2024 figure—across 330 plans among 10,797 employers covering more than 1.2 million participants, as of the same date.

Voya Financial ($6.198 billion in assets), Transamerica Retirement Solutions ($5.353 billion) and Principal Financial Group ($4.684 billion) recordkept the most PEP assets as of December 31, 2025, according to the recordkeeping survey. Empower ($35.654 billion), Transamerica ($29.086 billion) and Principal ($24.452 billion) recordkept the most MEP assets.

The 2026 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey was fielded in April and May among 36 DC recordkeepers that reported on their business as of December 31, 2025.