With January 1st past us, we knew that many plan providers were going to launch Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs). I know, because I helped launch four and still in the process of converting two multiple employer plans (MEPs) into PEPs.

The media loves a good story and a good story is the promulgation of many PEPs. I will say from experience, it’s been a long process because to steal a crass line from one of the Naked Gun movies, we have had to feel our way around a new system that had very little guidance. So many providers were ill-prepared with a launch because the guidance from the Department of Labor was a little late and underwhelming. So while people are creating PEPs, are they gathering any assets? Everything seems a little slow and I will be surprised that there are any PEPs achieving any large size in 2021 unless it’s a conversion from a MEP.