{"id":8527,"date":"2026-02-15T22:10:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T03:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/?p=8527"},"modified":"2026-02-15T22:10:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T03:10:46","slug":"in-the-pep-world-the-power-to-assign-can-be-the-power-to-destroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/?p=8527","title":{"rendered":"In the PEP World, the Power to Assign Can Be the Power to Destroy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chief Justice John Marshall famously wrote in <em>McCulloch v. Maryland<\/em>that \u201cthe power to tax is the power to destroy.\u201d In today\u2019s retirement plan business, I\u2019d argue there\u2019s a modern parallel: <strong>the power to assign a financial advisor to a particular Pooled Plan Provider (PPP) can be the power to get you fired.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Trust is everything in this business. Advisors hand over their clients, their reputation, and their livelihood to providers they assume are acting in good faith. When that trust is misplaced\u2014especially in the PEP space\u2014the consequences can be brutal. Pick the wrong PPP, or worse, one aligned with an unscrupulous TPA that has its own conflicts, and you may find yourself suddenly unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the current PEP landscape sometimes feels like the TV show Survivor. Everyone smiles. Alliances are formed. And all the while, you\u2019re just trying to make sure you don\u2019t get voted off the island.<\/p>\n<p>I know this from experience. I worked for years on a Multiple Employer Plan as a plan fiduciary and sponsor, alongside an advisor, trying to build something meaningful and sustainable. Then one advisor decided the plan should be converted to a PEP and expected me to \u201cvolunteer\u201d to give up my fiduciary role\u2014for nothing. That didn\u2019t happen. And it never should.<\/p>\n<p>Any transition\u2014MEP to PEP or otherwise\u2014has to preserve existing interests, roles, and value. If it doesn\u2019t, someone is getting squeezed out, and it\u2019s usually not the provider with the marketing budget.<\/p>\n<p>The lesson is simple. Before signing onto any PEP arrangement, consult with ERISA counsel. Make sure assignment rights, fiduciary roles, and economic interests are clearly defined and protected. Because in this business, the wrong deal doesn\u2019t just hurt\u2014it can end your seat at the table.<\/p>\n<p><span class='st_sharethis' st_title='{title}' st_url='{url}' displayText='ShareThis'><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chief Justice John Marshall famously wrote in McCulloch v. Marylandthat \u201cthe power to tax is the power to destroy.\u201d In today\u2019s retirement plan business, I\u2019d argue there\u2019s a modern parallel: the power to assign a financial advisor to a particular &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/?p=8527\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class='st_sharethis' st_title='{title}' st_url='{url}' displayText='ShareThis'><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8528,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8527\/revisions\/8528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therosenbaumlawfirm.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}