Mark Olsen

Managing Director, PlanPILOT

Business at a Glance

PLANADVISER: How has your retirement plan practice evolved over the past three to five years? What strategic decisions most changed your growth trajectory or client impact?

Olsen: Over the past five years, PlanPILOT’s practice has shifted from solely delivering high-quality consulting for individual institutions toward building systems that extend that same quality to entire networks of employers who would otherwise lack access to it.

The most consequential decision was committing deeply to the education and nonprofit sector. Faculty, administrators and support staff working in independent schools, colleges and nonprofits dedicate their careers to serving communities, yet frequently lack the access to best-in-class retirement plans. Closing that gap became an organizing principle for our work.

The strategic vehicle has been multiple employer plan and pooled employer plan structures. By partnering with associations across multiple states, we’ve created collaborative arrangements that deliver institutional-level fiduciary oversight and reduced cost to employers of all sizes, while preserving their local identity. Beyond plan mechanics, we equip association and nonprofit leaders with frameworks and analytics to raise benefit standards across their entire membership, and we invest heavily in building effective plan committees that advocate for better outcomes.

The thread running through all of it is simple: Retirement accessibility should not depend on geography or institutional size. When we get that right, we help everyday Americans build the financial security they’ve earned and deserve.

PLANADVISER: What differentiates your team in a crowded advisory marketplace today? Please expand on what you do differently in practice, not philosophy.

Olsen: PlanPILOT was purpose-built as an independent retirement plan consulting firm—we do not offer wealth or brokerage services. That singular focus means every recommendation we make, every participant education session we deliver and every fund we evaluate are entirely directed toward one outcome: better retirement plans and better participant results. Our independence isn’t a tagline; it shapes what we actually do in practice.

That depth of individual plan experience is precisely what makes us well-suited to design and manage scaled solutions like MEPs and PEPs. Years of supporting 403(b) plans—navigating annuity investment menus, complex compliance requirements and the governance realities of nonprofit institutions—means we understand where problems hide. A small oversight that goes undetected in a single plan doesn’t stay small when you scale it across an association of dozens of employers. That same rigor applies to how we evaluate investments: Every fund, whether a traditional option, an annuity or an ESG fund, is held to the same performance scorecard with no exceptions. These are exactly the kinds of details that matter to small teams with limited time and resources, and to board members and committees asking hard questions. We’ve done the foundational work at the individual plan level long enough to know what to look for, hich is what gives us the confidence and credibility to bring those solutions to scale responsibly.

Finally, giving back is embedded in how we operate. We extend our expertise through associations and networks specifically to reach employers and participants who might not otherwise access high-quality retirement guidance—because expanding access for everyday working Americans isn’t a byproduct of what we do. It’s the point.

PLANADVISER: Why should advisers play a leadership role in expanding retirement coverage through MEPs and PEPs? What is at stake for employers and workers?

Olsen: Retirement plans are growing more complex, and the fiduciary stakes for employers have never been higher. Many smaller employers—particularly in the nonprofit sector—want to provide meaningful retirement benefits but find the administrative burden and compliance requirements increasingly difficult to manage alone.

But the real urgency here isn’t about employer complexity. It’s about workers.

The average American is facing a retirement security crisis that is quietly worsening. Social Security is under increasing strain and cannot be relied upon to fill the gap on its own. For workers at smaller institutions—the teacher at an independent school, the staff member at a community nonprofit—the absence of a well-designed workplace retirement plan is the difference between retiring with dignity and financial stability, or not retiring at all.

This is precisely where advisers must lead. MEPs and PEPs pool resources across employers to lower administrative burden, potentially reduce cost, simplify administration and deliver institutional-quality plans to organizations that could not access them independently. But these structures require advisers with the expertise and commitment to steward them responsibly.

When advisers step into that role, every employer brought in represents another group of workers who can now save meaningfully for their future—and that is exactly what is at stake.

PLANADVISER: How does your MEP/PEP service model differ operationally and strategically from single-employer plans?

Olsen: At PlanPILOT, our foundation is delivering comprehensive, white-glove retirement plan consulting. Rigorous investment oversight, strong plan governance, conflict-free participant education and proactive fiduciary support define the standard we hold ourselves to for every client relationship.

Our MEP and PEP model takes that same level of service and extends it to smaller employers who would never have access to it independently. Nothing is scaled back. The expertise, the fiduciary oversight, the quality of investment analysis and the participant education all remain intact. What changes is the structure around it.

Rather than each employer navigating that experience alone, we build a community. Participating organizations come together quarterly to review plan performance, share insights and learn from one another, all while benefiting from the economies of scale that pooling resources creates. It becomes something more than a retirement plan. It becomes a network of like-minded nonprofits, collectively raising the bar for their participants.

The mission is simple: Every worker, regardless of where they work, deserves a quality retirement benefit.