LeadingAge Ohio is exploring offering a Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) as a member benefit. An MEP is a retirement plan shared by multiple, unrelated employers under a single plan. A LeadingAge Ohio-sponsored MEP would:

• Help members attract and retain top talent with robust retirement offerings.
• Reduce the compliance and fiduciary burden on individual employers.
• Deliver economies of scale that lower fees and improve investment options.
• Allow for individual employer plan design flexibility with contributions, matches, vesting schedules, etc.
   

To aid in this exploration, we are asking members to complete this brief survey by Friday, July 31.

If you have questions, please contact me at swallace@leadingageohio.org. 

Thank you,

Susan Wallace

President/CEO

What is a Multiple Employer Plan (MEP)?

A Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) is a retirement plan that is shared by multiple, unrelated employers, but administered under a single plan. By joining together, participating employers can offer competitive, high-quality retirement benefits to their employees, while reducing the administrative burden and cost.

Why is LeadingAge Ohio exploring an MEP?

As a membership organization dedicated to supporting aging services providers, LeadingAge Ohio is exploring an MEP to:

• Help members attract and retain top talent with robust retirement offerings.
• Reduce the compliance and fiduciary burden on individual employers.
• Deliver economies of scale that lower fees and improve investment options.

Key Benefits of Joining a LeadingAge Ohio MEP

✅ Lower Costs Through Group Buying Power

By pooling resources, an MEP can leverage economies of scale to negotiate lower fees for plan administration, investment management, and recordkeeping—savings that are passed on to employers and their employees.

✅ Reduced Administrative Burden

MEPs centralize many of the time-consuming tasks involved in managing a retirement plan:

• Filing IRS Form 5500
• Performing annual audits (a major cost savings for small and midsize employers)
• Handling compliance testing and fiduciary oversight

The plan sponsor would take on much of this responsibility.

✅ Improved Fiduciary Protection

With an MEP, the sponsoring organization can assume many of the fiduciary duties related to plan oversight. This reduces liability and risk exposure for individual member organizations.

✅ Enhanced Retirement Benefits for Employees

MEPs can offer a wider array of high-quality investment options, financial education, and retirement planning tools—benefits that might be too costly or complex for small employers to offer on their own.

✅ Simplified Plan Management

Plan sponsors in an MEP typically benefit from streamlined onboarding, fewer vendor relationships, and standardized plan designs, which makes managing the plan easier for HR and finance teams.

✅ Talent Attraction and Retention

A strong retirement plan helps LeadingAge Ohio members stay competitive in a tight labor market. Offering a quality plan through the MEP can be a major draw for prospective employees—particularly in the nonprofit and healthcare sectors where retirement benefits are highly valued.