Data and Research February 26, 2026
The Growth of MEPs and PEPs
Data collected for PLANSPONSOR's 2025 Recordkeeping Survey shows that PEPs with at least $200 million in assets hold nearly double the assets as those in smaller plans; and which recordkeepers are capturing business from the maturing plan type.
Reported by
PLANSPONSOR Staff
Art by Simone Virgini
Pooled Employer Plan Assets, by Plan Size
| ≤$25M | $4,351M |
| >$25M – $200M | $4,184M |
| ≥$200M | $8,123M |
Recordkeeper Rankings
Top 10, by Multiple Employer Plan Assets
| 1 | Empower | $30,132M |
| 2 | Principal Financial Group | $17,210M |
| 3 | Transamerica | $16,368M |
| 4 | Voya Financial | $15,408M |
| 5 | Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. | $13,083M |
| 6 | T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. | $11,440M |
| 7 | Ascensus | $7,706M |
| 8 | TIAA | $7,314M |
| 9 | Ameritas | $5,731M |
| 10 | TruStage | $3,109M |
Top 10, by Pooled Employer- or Multiple-Employer 401(k) Participants
| 1 | Principal Financial Group | 668,596 |
| 2 | Empower | 530,245 |
| 3 | Voya Financial | 314,080 |
| 4 | Transamerica | 289,499 |
| 5 | The Standard | 164,110 |
| 6 | Ascensus | 77,856 |
| 7 | Ameritas | 73,786 |
| 8 | TruStage | 42,246 |
| 9 | NWPS | 31,851 |
| 10 | Lincoln Financial | 27,207 |
Top 10, by Total # of Adopting Employers in PEPs
| 1 | Transamerica | 1,797 |
| 2 | Ameritas | 1,102 |
| 3 | Fidelity Investments | 981 |
| 4 | Ascensus | 733 |
| 5 | Principal Financial Group | 609 |
| 6 | The Standard | 583 |
| 7 | Empower | 501 |
| 8 | Alerus Retirement and Benefits | 441 |
| 9 | Voya Financial | 372 |
| 10 | Vestwell | 119 |
Source of all data: 2025 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey
