Products July 28, 2023

Voya Brings Pooled Employer Plan Option to 403(b) Plans

The firm calls its Secure Retirement 403(b) PEP the first to market, following a years-long push for PEPs in the private 401(k) space.

Reported by

Beginning August 1, Voya will bring what it is calling the very first pooled employer plan to employees of large nonprofits and other 501(c)(3) tax-qualified entities across the country.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Beginning August 1, Voya will bring what it is calling the very first pooled employer plan to employees of large nonprofits and other 501(c)(3) tax-qualified entities across the country.

Voya Financial announced it will be the recordkeeper of what it is calling the first 403(b) pooled employer plan, expanding employee access to retirement plan benefits at nonprofits.

Voya designed the Secure Retirement 403(b) PEP to provide a pooled plan option for nonprofit organizations in charitable, religious, scientific, educational and literary fields and health care-related entities to broaden retirement plan access for employees, according to the Windsor, Connecticut-based firm.

Voya is “thrilled to enter the 403(b) market,” said Brodie Wood, senior vice president and national practice leader of health care, education and nonprofit markets, in a press release.

“With the combination of PEPs growing in prominence over the past few years and the opportunity to permit 403(b) plans to maintain a PEP, we see even greater opportunities to provide employees within education, health care and other tax-exempt entities with greater access to retirement savings capabilities, and ultimately providing an opportunity for improved outcomes,” he said.

The plan was created to take advantage of changes allowed by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, according to Voya, and is the first 403(b) PEP after numerous offerings to private businesses with 401(k) plans. .

The new PEP was registered with the Department of Labor and Department of the Treasury, earlier this year, explains Terry Power, CEO of The Platinum 401k Inc.

“We have developed a solid relationship with Voya and a few other major national recordkeepers in the Pooled Employer Plan space,” Power wrote by email. “Voya is a major player in the 403(b) market, and we’re delighted to have them on board as our first 403(b) PEP recordkeeper.”

LeafHouse Financial contracted to serve as the 3(38) fiduciary investment manager to satisfy Employee Retirement Income Security Act rules, and Plan Compliance, an affiliate of The Platinum 401k, enrolled as the 3(16) plan administrator, according to the press release.  

The PEP is focused on existing ERISA 403(b) plans and is available to individual retirement plan advisers through Voya, Power explained.

“We view the 403(b) PEP market as an amazing opportunity for plan sponsors, advisers and, of course, 403(b) plan participants,” he wrote.

Compliance July 28, 2023

House Spending Bill Would Block EBSA’s ESG Rule, but Senate’s Would Not

Congress has until September 30 to pass a budget bill.

Reported by


The Appropriations Committees for the House of Representatives and the Senate have advanced very different spending bills related to the Department of Labor.

The Senate version, which passed its committee 25-1 on Thursday, would provide $13.5 billion in discretionary funding to the DOL for fiscal year 2024. $249 million of the total is for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, an increase from the $191 million appropriated in 2023.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

The House version appropriates $9.8 billion for the DOL, of which $153 million is for EBSA. The House version passed committee on July 14.

After this week, Congress is not scheduled to return to session until September 12. The bills must be harmonized by September 30, along with the rest of the federal budget, to avoid a shutdown, absent a continuing resolution.

The two bills do agree on funding for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Both bills appropriate $513 million for the PBGC and provide for an additional $9.2 million in administrative funding for every 20,000 participants in excess of 100,000 in terminated plans. In both bills, this funding is provided through September 30, 2028.

The Senate anticipates that obligations related to the Special Financial Assistance program will cost the PBGC nearly $14 billion, but this funding is tied to the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Senate’s bill also requires “EBSA to create and widely disseminate educational materials focused on promoting best practices in employee ownership through the Employee Ownership Initiative authorized by Section 346 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.” This provision is absent in the House’s bill.

Section 346 of SECURE 2.0 requires the DOL to establish an Employee Ownership Initiative and authorized $50 million to promote employee ownership. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee previously approved $14 million for the creation of a retirement plan database, or “lost and found,” to be administered by the DOL. The House Appropriations Committee has yet to provide for this.

The House version also blocks the EBSA rule which permits environmental, social and governance considerations to be used in fiduciary decisions related to retirement plans and proxy voting. The Senate bill does not address that rule.

The ESG rule is currently being challenged by two lawsuits. The rule allows ESG funds to be used as a qualified default investment alternative and makes it easier for ESG funds to be placed in investment menus, but it does not change a fiduciary’s obligation to be loyal and prudent. The lawsuits assert that this rule violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, among other claims.

«