When HR leaders are asked what keeps them up at night, it is rarely a lack of ideas. It is the nagging reality that the to-do list is endless—and administrative overhead consumes much of it. Program and vendor reviews, legislative updates, compliance activities, audit cycles, surveys, budget management…the list never ends.
Imagine if a large slice of that work could be moved off your plate so you could spend time on the things that truly differentiate your HR strategy: personalization, analytics, engagement, retention. That is exactly the premise of Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs): not just cost reduction or fiduciary relief, but administrative leverage for HR teams.
Over the past decade, the scope and expectations for HR functions have grown aggressively. These teams are charged with designing compensation frameworks, optimizing benefits and retirement plans, curating wellness and financial well-being programs, leading DEI initiatives, optimizing pay equity — all while maintaining compliance, vendor relationships and stakeholder reporting. In fact, according to WTW’s 2025 Benefit Trends Survey, 42% of employers surveyed planned to improve their benefits teams to include more advanced skills in analytics, data and legislation.
Defined contribution (DC) retirement plans are part of that grind, demanding significant ongoing attention: administrative oversight, investment decisions and monitoring, fiduciary benchmarking, vendor RFPs, audit responsiveness, annual reporting, SECURE 2.0 design changes, participant communications, and more. Many HR teams find that these types of basic plan management tasks can overshadow strategic objectives.
Benefits managers are starting to turn to PEPs to ease the burden and free up time to refocus on strategy.
Based on our experience, companies can reduce their time spent on DC plans by up to 75%, enabling leaner teams and more strategic focus.[1]
PEPs allow plan sponsors to fully outsource DC plan delivery. While PEPs are promoted as an opportunity to reduce costs, access scale and transfer fiduciary risk, their real power lies in how they help HR teams. Below are key levers by which PEPs can deliver administrative relief:
Altogether, depending on the size of the company, the effect is a shift of dozens—even hundreds—of hours annually away from maintenance tasks and toward strategic action.
When you peel away administrative weight, HR leaders can redirect effort toward higher-value areas, including:
In other words: instead of being stuck in “maintenance mode,” your team becomes a true driver of competitive advantage.
Navigating the transition to a PEP: Key considerations for HR teams Shifting to a PEP is not a magic wand. Your team must plan carefully and manage stakeholder expectations, including:
While strategically planning, ask yourself the following questions. If you find yourself answering “Yes,” a PEP may be an opportunity worth pursuing.
In benefits management, tools that simplify complexity and free up capacity are desperately needed. PEPs are often discussed through lenses of cost or fiduciary relief, but their real value lies in shifting your team’s focus from administration to innovation. Many organizations have found value in exploring how PEPs could deliver that leverage. If your benefits group could reclaim dozens to hundreds of strategic hours annually, imagine what you could accomplish.
Next step: We have supported hundreds of plan sponsors in evaluating the potential time savings of joining a PEP, helping them understand the specific benefits and considerations for their plan. If you are interested in a similar assessment, please contact us to learn more.
This document was prepared for general information purposes only and does not take into consideration individual circumstances. The information contained herein should not be considered a substitute for specific professional advice. In particular, its contents are not intended by Towers Watson Investment Services, Inc., and its parent, affiliates, and their respective directors, officers and employees (WTW) to be construed as the provision of investment, legal, accounting, tax or other professional advice or recommendations of any kind, or to form the basis of any decision to do or to refrain from doing anything. The information included in this presentation is not based on the particular investment situation or requirements of any specific trust, plan, fiduciary, plan participant or beneficiary, endowment, or any other fund; any examples or illustrations used in this presentation are hypothetical. As such, this document should not be relied upon for investment or other financial decisions and no such decisions should be taken on the basis of its contents without seeking specific advice. WTW does not intend for anything in this document to constitute “investment advice” within the meaning of 29 C.F.R.§ 2510.3-21 to any employee benefit plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code.
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