A Pooled Employer Plan, or PEP, is a type of retirement plan that allows many unrelated businesses to join together in a single 401k plan. It’s designed to make it easier and more affordable for small and midsize businesses to offer retirement benefits by pooling resources. A key feature of a PEP is that it is managed by a professional provider, called a Pooled Plan Provider, who handles most of the setup, administration, and legal responsibilities. This can reduce the burden on individual employers and help limit their liability. Each business that joins a PEP still decides its own matching contributions and plan features, but the overall structure is shared. PEPs aim to expand access to retirement savings by removing many of the barriers that smaller employers face when trying to start their own plan.