Pooled Employer Plans as a Strategic Differentiator, with Saalex Corporation

Pooled Employer Plans as a Strategic Differentiator, with Saalex Corporation
March 11, 2026 4 mins

Pooled Employer Plans as a Strategic Differentiator, with Saalex Corporation

Pooled Employer Plans as a Strategic Differentiator

Saalex, a U.S.-based government contractor, understands the value of employee benefits in attracting and retaining top talent. After a complete review of benefits, they were interested in the cost savings, administrative efficiencies and added benefits of a pooled employer program.

Key Takeaways
  1. Retirement benefits are a key driver of retention and attraction efforts, but employers acting as plan sponsors can spend significant time and resources managing defined contribution plans.
  2. The economies of scale of a pooled employer plan allowed Saalex to offer best in class benefits, despite being a smaller company.
  3. Communicating with employees about the scope and advantages of a benefit program is important to getting buy-in.

Saalex, a middle-market aerospace and defense contractor, had completed a large acquisition in 2024. CEO and Chairman Travis Mack knew it was the right time to conduct a comprehensive review of the firm’s employee benefits, with the goal of finding opportunities to enhance benefits and save costs for the growing organization. The complexities of growth, including multiple providers and increased administrative burden, were limiting the organization’s ability to offer the kind of benefits they needed. 

“My goal as a leader is always trying to enhance what we provide to the point where we are best in the industry,” said Mack. “We strategically review our benefits, identify opportunities for enhancements while maintaining cost effectiveness.”

Following the benefits review, Mack was particularly interested in how a pooled employer plan (PEP) could reduce costly 401(k) fees for employees, as well as free up resources required from Saalex to manage the retirement plan. Mack understood that the path to the best possible total rewards package was through cost savings, efficiency and good governance. 

Why PEPs are Emerging as a Popular Retirement Solution

PEPs have emerged as a popular retirement solution since they were launched in 2021. In just four years since inception, PEPs had more than $10 billion in assets and over 24,000 participating employers, according to a report by Cerulli Associates. 

$6B

The Aon PEP surpassed $6 billion in live and committed assets, 140 employers and 100,000 eligible employees in 2025.

Source: Aon internal data

Turning to the Aon PEP as a solution, Saalex was able to reduce fees by $331,000 per year — a 59% cost reduction. The new arrangement also established a more robust 401(k) platform to help employees accumulate wealth and improve their retirement futures. 

An unexpected further benefit has been the reduced administrative burden on the HR team at Saalex, which has allowed them to focus on higher impact, more strategic matters. No HR team wants to be bogged down by administrative hassles. This came at an important time for Saalex’s HR and finance teams to focus time and energy on M&A and rapid growth. 

Organizations in the Aon PEP saw an 11.4% increase in participation rates after 12 months and a 5.2% average increase in savings rates for participants after 24 months, according to an Aon analysis.

The Importance of Employee Communication

When transitioning to a new provider or a new system, it’s important to get buy-in from employees.  For Saalex, that meant communicating why the firm was moving to a PEP — including how it would benefit employees and the organization. This was crucial to ensuring their support for the change.

Mack’s goal remains the same: Enhance the benefits they provide their workers to the point where they can not only compete for top talent, but also be considered best in class. “Having a robust benefits package is truly a competitive advantage, because we are competing with other organizations to offer the best for our workforce,” said Mack. “It’s important for retention and it’s important for recruiting.”

Learn more

Learn more about how the Aon PEP can reduce administrative burden while allowing employers to provide best in class retirement benefits.

Contact Us

General Disclaimer

This document is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this document, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the document or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this document. This document has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication and is subject to any qualifications made in the document.

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