DRESHER, PA — Ascensus expanded its small-business retirement platform with administrative fiduciary services and a new 401(k) option featuring Vanguard investments, seeking to reduce the compliance workload that can complicate retirement-plan adoption and management for smaller employers.
The Dresher-based retirement services company has reintroduced the offering as Ascensus Essentials, replacing the Ascensus CoPilot name. The platform combines its existing small-business 401(k) offering with new 3(16) administrative fiduciary services and the Vanguard investment option.
Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 3(16) services allow employers to outsource certain plan-administration responsibilities. Ascensus identified eligibility tracking, contribution monitoring and filing requirements among the functions that can be handled through the service.
The expansion targets an area of limited awareness among employers. Ascensus research found 48% of plan sponsors do not know what a 3(16) fiduciary is, while 26% have never been presented with 3(16) services, even as fiduciary risk ranks as their top concern.
“Small business owners want a retirement plan solution that is simple to adopt, easy to manage, and built to grow with their business,” Mary Torgerson, head of Small Business Retirement at Ascensus, stated.
Ascensus is also using digital onboarding to shorten the time required to establish plans. The company reports its process has reduced setup from more than 20 days to as few as 2.5 days while producing 100% good-order submissions and reducing cancellations during onboarding.
Individual(k) plans now go live in an average of 2.5 days, while group plans average eight days, according to Ascensus.
The company is positioning those administrative changes as a way for financial advisors to establish retirement plans more quickly while shifting some ongoing responsibilities away from small-business owners.
Ascensus cited its research showing that while 98% of organizations offer a qualified retirement plan, only 58% believe employees fully take advantage of the benefit, indicating that plan availability does not necessarily translate into participation.
The revamped platform is intended to accommodate businesses as their retirement-plan requirements change, combining plan setup, administration and fiduciary support within the Ascensus Essentials offering.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.