Associated Pension Consultants

What Associated Pension Consultants does

Associated Pension Consultants (APC) is a third-party retirement plan administration firm founded in 1974 and currently operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prime Pensions, Inc. The company specializes exclusively in qualified retirement plan design, installation, administration, and compliance services for US employers, with a deliberate policy of not offering competing investment management, insurance, or banking products. APC serves over 3,800 plan clients nationwide, distributed across employers ranging from sole proprietors to larger corporations, and is supported by a parallel channel of financial advisor referrals.

APC's product suite spans the full qualified plan spectrum, including 401(k) plans (with Roth and Safe Harbor variants), 403(b) plans for nonprofit organizations, Defined Benefit and Cash Balance plans, Profit Sharing and Money Purchase plans, and Combination Carve-Out designs. Underlying operations run on third-party administration technology handling compliance testing, discrimination testing, Form 5500 preparation, trust fund accounting, and participant recordkeeping, accessed by clients through a dedicated web portal (census.e-apc.com). The firm maintains California offices in Sacramento and Chico following its 2021 acquisition of Piper Pension & Profit Sharing, with parent company headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey.

The business model is professional services fee-based, with revenue generated from per-plan administration charges that scale with plan complexity, participant count, and required services. APC goes to market through direct employer engagement supported by a Request Proposal workflow on its website, complemented by a financial advisor referral channel and strategic partnerships with major recordkeepers and fund families including Empower, Voya, John Hancock, Lincoln Financial, Principal, Transamerica, Nationwide, American Funds, and PenChecks Trust. The company positions itself on personalized consultant-led service rather than automated or outsourced call-center support.

Name

Associated Pension Consultants

Legal name

Associated Pension Consultants, LLC

Website

https://e-apc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Associated Pension Consultants is a third-party retirement plan administrator founded in 1974, serving over 3,800 US employers and advisor clients with 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit, and cash balance plan design and compliance services as a subsidiary of Prime Pensions, Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chico

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Third-Party Administration Fees: APC generates revenue through fees charged to employers for administering their qualified retirement plans including 401(k), defined benefit, cash balance, and other plan types. The company specializes exclusively in retirement plan administration and consulting services without investment management, insurance, or banking products.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Associated Pension Consultants is a third-party retirement plan administrator that designs, installs, and administers qualified retirement plans for employers. The firm offers a full suite of defined contribution and defined benefit plan products—including 401(k), Roth 401(k), Safe Harbor 401(k), 403(b), Defined Benefit, Cash Balance, Profit Sharing, Money Purchase, and Combination Carve-Out plans—alongside ongoing compliance testing, Form 5500 preparation, and consulting services. APC does not handle investments, insurance, or banking, focusing exclusively on retirement plan administration and consulting for employers and financial advisors.

Product overview

Associated Pension Consultants is a third-party retirement plan administration firm established in 1974, serving over 3,800 clients nationwide. The company operates as a subsidiary of Prime Pensions, Inc. following a 2021 acquisition. APC offers a comprehensive suite of qualified retirement plan products including 401(k) Plans (with Roth and Safe Harbor variants), 403(b) Plans for nonprofit organizations, Defined Benefit Plans, Cash Balance Plans, and Combination Carve-Out Plans. The company specializes in both plan design consulting (document preparation, IRS filings, employee meetings) and ongoing plan administration and compliance services (annual testing, Form 5500 filings, trust fund accounting). APC does not handle investments, insurance, or banking—focusing exclusively on retirement plan administration and consulting to deliver personalized, localized service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 401(k) Plan A qualified retirement plan allowing business entities to sponsor a plan where both business owners and employees can defer a portion of their income, with optional employer matching and/or profit sharing contributions. Designed for employers seeking to offer retirement benefits.
• 403(b) Plan A retirement arrangement for employers of nonprofit organizations exempt from federal income tax, offering employee and employer contributions with distinct testing advantages. Targeted at tax-exempt employers such as schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations.
• Roth 401(k) Plan A 401(k) plan variant allowing Roth (post-tax) employee contributions, where contributions and earnings are distributed tax-free if the distribution is qualified. Offered to employers as part of APC's 401(k) administration suite.
• Safe Harbor 401(k) Plan A 401(k) plan designed to eliminate the burden of discrimination testing by satisfying safe harbor conditions, allowing all employees to contribute up to the maximum yearly deferral limit. For employers seeking simplified compliance.
• Defined Benefit Plan A pension plan providing a defined stream of payments for the duration of a participant's retirement, allowing employers to fund contributions exceeding defined contribution limits. For employers seeking pension-style retirement benefits.
• Cash Balance Plan A defined benefit plan that communicates benefits in terms characteristic of a defined contribution plan, featuring hypothetical accounts with pay credits and interest credits. For employers seeking hybrid pension solutions.
• Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution Combination Carve-Out Plan A two-plan benefit approach integrating defined benefit and defined contribution plans to provide high deductible limits of a DB plan while reducing employee costs via DC plan funding. For employers seeking combined benefit strategies.
• Profit Sharing Plan Employer profit sharing contributions with multiple allocation methods including traditional, age-weighted, tier-rated, and new comparability designs. For employers offering discretionary retirement contributions.
• Money Purchase Plan

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Prime Pensions, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPC has joined the Prime Pensions, Inc. family of companies. Associated Pension Consultants, LLC is a subsidiary of Prime Pensions. APC is listed alongside other Prime Pensions family companies including Pension Benefits Unlimited, Inc., Prime Pensions Northwest, LLC, Prime Retirement Solutions, LLC, and Northwest Retirement Plan Consultants, LLC.
• Piper Pension & Profit SharingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociated Pension Consultants, LLC, a subsidiary of Prime Pensions, acquired Piper Pension & Profit Sharing, expanding APC's West Coast presence.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Empower Retirement: Empower is the second-largest U.S. retirement services provider with 30,000 plans and 7M participants, and is listed as an APC strategic business partner. It offers plan administration alongside proprietary recordkeeping, investments, and rollovers — competing with APC both as a TPA and as an integrated recordkeeper/TPA.
• Principal Financial Group: Principal is a Fortune 500 retirement plan provider offering administration, recordkeeping, and investment products. It is an APC strategic business partner and competes with APC in mid-market retirement plan services through its bundled offering.
• Voya Financial: Voya serves over 13 million clients with retirement, insurance, and investment products, including institutional retirement plan administration. Listed as an APC partner, it competes in the same employer retirement plan market through its retirement services segment.
• Transamerica Retirement Solutions: Transamerica provides retirement plan products and administration to employer clients, with whom APC is a strategic partner. It competes in plan administration but with bundled insurance and investment offerings that APC deliberately does not provide.
• John Hancock Retirement Plan Services: John Hancock offers retirement plan services alongside insurance and wealth management. As an APC strategic partner, it serves overlapping employer plan markets but competes on bundled solutions versus APC's TPA-only model.
• Fidelity Workplace Investing: Fidelity Workplace Investing is a leading recordkeeper and plan administrator serving employer-sponsored 401(k) and other retirement plans. It competes with APC for mid-market and large employer plan administration mandates with an integrated custody + administration + investment model.

Direct peers

• ADP Retirement Services: ADP Retirement Services provides 401(k) and retirement plan administration tightly bundled with its payroll and HR services. It directly competes with APC in mid-market employer plan administration, particularly where bundled payroll/benefits procurement is prioritized.
• Paychex Retirement: Paychex offers retirement plan administration services alongside its payroll and HR platform, competing directly with APC in the small and mid-market employer segment via bundled payroll + retirement offerings.
• Ascensus: Ascensus is one of the largest independent TPAs in the U.S., providing retirement plan administration, government plan administration, and education savings programs. It directly competes with APC in third-party plan administration for 401(k), 403(b), and defined benefit plans, though at vastly greater scale.
• American Pension Advisors: American Pension Advisors is an independent TPA focused on retirement plan design, administration, and compliance for small and mid-sized employers — a closely analogous business model to APC, often competing head-to-head on personalized service for 401(k), 403(b), and defined benefit plans.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Associated Pension Consultants