With almost two decades of MEP experience, BlueStar is the seasoned MEP provider you’ve been looking for.
From PEOs to associations, from start-ups to mature MEPs with hundreds of adopters, we have the service model and technology solutions to make your MEP a shining success.
When It Comes to MEPs You Can Count on Our Expertise
Of course, our MEP clients enjoy all the great features BlueStar offers including our amazing web portals, GuideME tools to get your participants on track, plan design experts, and open architecture platform. But we’ve also spent the past two decades perfecting our service model and developing proprietary technology specifically for our MEPs. That means that you can rest easy that your adopting employers are in great hands.
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Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs)As a long time NAPEO member, we are part of your community. We know the unique needs of PEOs and provider services that WOW your worksite employers. -
AssociationsFrom construction firms to banks and grocery co-ops, we have deep experience with associations and their members. -
Sister CompaniesFor companies that share ownership or common services, a MEP may be a great answer to simplify your benefits across your different companies.
MEP Advantages A Great Value for Your Company
And if your company is considering joining a MEP, you’ve come to the right place! Multiple employer plans are an amazing value for companies – offering both better services and better pricing than you'd typically get if you sponsored your own single employer plan. MEPs in fact are considered such a great value, that Congress recently passed a new law increasing the opportunity for companies to participate in MEPs.
Specializing in Multiple Employer Plans for PEOs
BlueStar has worked with PEOs since 2003 and understands their unique needs. We know that your retirement plan needs to be a shining example of why your client hired you to take over their HR and Payroll needs. Our service model is designed to support you completely from the initial sale through the many years of successful client development.
- Our sales support will make it easy for you to close the deal. From our marketing website built just for you, to our customized brochures and flyers that explain all the amazing benefits of your MEP, to our PEO specialists that can prepare plan comparisons and participate in presentations, we will make your 401k shine to prospective clients. (Link to a sample portal – web project in the works)
- Our onboarding process offloads the work from you and provides a a gold star conversions experience – ensuring that your clients are thrilled they chose you as their PEO.
- Our service model will ensure that the value of your PEO model is reinforced every day. Our payroll validation program does a compliance check with each payroll processed – so we catch any payroll issues immediately. Missed deferrals? Bad match setup? Forgot to setup that loan? Not with BlueStar. Sleep easy because with us, there are no bad surprises looming at year end!
- As a NAPEO Medallion Partner, we're constant supporters of the PEO community, enabling us to keep our finger on the pulse of your world.
Since we know PEOs, we also know your software and can easily integrate with your payroll software to increase efficiencies and reduce the time your staff has to spend on your plan. If you use PrismHR, we’ve got you covered!
- Marketplace member
- Single sign on from your PrismHR portal to MyPlanConnection.com
- Contribution rates and loan amounts automatically posted to your employees’ records through our custom API
Multiple Employer Plans
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Multiple Employer Plan?
A multiple employer plan (MEP) is a qualified retirement savings plan that is sponsored by one lead company. Other companies join the plan as adopting employees. The MEP is considered a single plan from the perspective of the IRS and Department of Labor so only one Form 5500 is needed for the whole plan. Each adopting employer, however, is able to customize their plan adoption for their own employees, selecting eligibility standards, matching rates, or profit sharing allocations.
How Does Joining a MEP Benefit Me?
MEP Adopters find many benefits of joining a Multiple Employer Plan. Generally, adopting a MEP is less expensive and a lot less work than sponsoring your own retirement plan. For audit-sized plans, adopting employers are not responsible for their own audit, so that can save companies a lot of money. Employers also benefit from the economies of scale and purchasing power of the larger Multiple Employer Plan. This also allows adopting employers to access less-expensive share classes of mutual funds as plan investments. Adopting employers are also able to off-load a lot of business risk when they choose to participate in a MEP rather than sponsor their own plan. Adopting employers are not the named Plan Fiduciary so they can offload those associated risks and responsibilities to a professional plan administrator.
What Happens if I Leave the PEO/Association?
Should your firm choose to leave your PEO or Association, your plan assets will continue to remain invested. However, future contributions will not be permitted. Your plan can be spun out into a Single Employer plan, or transferred into another MEP.
How Quickly Can We Get Started?
If you are starting a 401(k) plan for the first time, BlueStar can have your startup running in ~45 days from the execution of an adoption agreement. For existing plans, mergers can be completed on average in 60-90 days.
How Does BlueStar Serve Association Retirement Plans?
BlueStar is a Recordkeeper and Third Party Administrator to Association Retirement Plans, and also offers plan fiduciary services such as transaction approvals. Our portals deliver rich experiences to employers and employees with a relentless focus on the retirement readiness of each and every plan investor.