Plan Pilot
PlanPILOT is an independent Chicago-based retirement plan consulting firm serving 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan sponsors across corporate, higher education, non-profit, and public-sector clients with fiduciary oversight, plan governance, investment oversight, and OCIO search services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Plan Pilot does
PlanPILOT, LLC is an independent retirement plan consulting firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2011 by Mark Olsen. The firm provides advisory services to plan sponsors of 401(k), 403(b), and 457 retirement plans across corporate, higher education, K-12, non-profit, and public-sector organizations, with stated coverage of $14B+ in client plan assets across 16+ active engagements. Its core service, Retirement Plan Consulting, is delivered through five integrated modules: Plan Design, Plan Governance, Education, Provider Consultation, and Investment Oversight, supplemented by a separate Cybersecurity Services offering for plan data protection and a Foundations & Endowments practice that conducts outsourced CIO (OCIO) provider searches for institutional clients.
The firm operates on a professional services revenue model with custom, quote-based pricing structured as multi-year consulting engagements, sold through direct enterprise sales, RFP submission workflows, and consultative outreach to retirement plan committees. PlanPILOT is structurally conflict-free — it does not sell investment products and has no affiliation with investment managers, banks, or insurance companies — and uses the Plan Governance Index (PGI) from partner Hero7 as its proprietary assessment framework for measuring plan governance quality. Clients access deliverables through the Revver client portal.
The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding or parent company, and is led by Managing Director Mark Olsen alongside a senior team that includes consultants with prior tenures at Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, TIAA, and Nuveen. Go-to-market relies on content-driven thought leadership (blog, webinars, whitepapers, video) and senior-led conference participation at Pensions & Investments, Stable Value Investment Association, and CUPA-HR events. Self-reported client satisfaction metrics (4.9/5 recommendation score, 100% would-highly-recommend rate on a 2018 survey, 98% overall satisfaction) indicate strong retention characteristics.
Plan Pilot firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Plan Pilot
- Legal name
- PlanPILOT, LLC
- Website
- https://planpilot.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- PlanPILOT is an independent Chicago-based retirement plan consulting firm serving 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan sponsors across corporate, higher education, non-profit, and public-sector clients with fiduciary oversight, plan governance, investment oversight, and OCIO search services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Plan Pilot industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Retirement Plan Consulting
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Institutional Consulting RIAs (OCIO/Endowments/Foundations/Pensions) (FSAAACAG), Retirement & Pension Planning (401(k)/IRA) (FSAEAAAD)
Keywords
Where Plan Pilot is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Plan Pilot business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Retirement Plan Consulting Services: Professional consulting fees for advisory services including plan governance, investment oversight, plan design, education, and provider consultation. Revenue generated through retainer or project-based consulting engagements with plan sponsor clients.
- OCIO Search Consulting: Fees for conducting OCIO provider searches including RFI/RFP processes for endowments and foundations. PlanPILOT leads due diligence efforts to match institutional clients with appropriate OCIO providers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom consulting engagement pricing based on plan size and scope of services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Plan Pilot product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PlanPILOT is an independent retirement plan consulting firm that provides fiduciary advisory services for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan sponsors, covering plan governance, investment oversight, plan design, participant education, and provider consultation. The firm also offers OCIO search consulting and investment advisory for higher education endowments and non-profit foundations, supplemented by cybersecurity risk services for retirement plan data.
Product overview
PlanPILOT is an independent retirement plan consulting firm that offers advisory services through a modular consulting approach. The core offering is Retirement Plan Consulting for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, which encompasses five integrated service modules: Plan Design, Plan Governance, Education, Provider Consultation, and Investment Oversight. These services are supplemented by dedicated Cybersecurity Services for data protection. The firm also serves higher education and non-profit institutions through Foundations & Endowments consulting, including specialized OCIO Search Consulting services. Clients access resources through the Revver client portal. The firm operates as a consulting practice rather than a technology product company, with all services delivered through human advisors and consultants.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Revver: Login portal referenced on the website - appears to be a client portal or platform service.
Products and services
- Retirement Plan Consulting Comprehensive advisory services for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan sponsors, focused on minimizing fiduciary risk and improving participant outcomes through plan design, governance, investment oversight, education, and provider consultation.
- Foundations & Endowments Consulting Investment consulting services for higher education and non-profit institutions' endowments and foundations, including OCIO provider search and due diligence.
- OCIO Search Consulting Objective, independent outsourced CIO provider search services for endowments and foundations, including RFI/RFP processes and fiduciary oversight support.
- Cybersecurity Services Cybersecurity risk assessment and mitigation services including data privacy risk identification, service provider questionnaires, contract reviews, and staff training for retirement plan data protection.
Quantifiable outcome
- 100% of clients would highly recommend services (2018 survey)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Plan Pilot
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Plan Pilot technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Plan Pilot partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Hero7 (Plan Governance Index)corePlanPILOT utilizes the industry-leading Plan Governance Index (PGI) tool developed by Hero7 to assess and measure the state of clients' Defined Contribution plans. PGI effectively demonstrates where plan governance and participants are on the path toward success, along with recommending best practices to address gaps.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Plan Pilot competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SageView Advisory: Independent retirement plan and wealth advisory firm serving plan sponsors with consulting, investment oversight, and participant services. Closest pure-play independent peer to PlanPILOT's conflict-free 401(k)/403(b)/457 advisory model.
- CAPTRUST: One of the largest independent retirement plan advisory firms in the U.S., providing investment advisory, plan design, and OCIO services to corporate, healthcare, and non-profit plan sponsors. Direct competitor in the same RFP-based, segment-led sales motion.
- BlueStar Retirement Services: Boutique independent retirement plan advisory firm focused on serving mid-market plan sponsors with investment advisory and fiduciary services. Closely comparable size, model, and target client profile.
- Cammack Retirement Group: Independent retirement plan consulting firm advising non-profits, higher education, and corporate plan sponsors on investment oversight and governance. Comparable niche focus and independent positioning to PlanPILOT.
- NFP Retirement: Retirement plan advisory practice within NFP, serving mid- and large-market plan sponsors with consulting, fiduciary, and OCIO capabilities. Competes head-to-head for independent advisor RFPs from corporate and institutional plan sponsors.
Broad incumbents
- Willis Towers Watson: Global advisory firm with substantial retirement, investment, and risk consulting practices serving corporate, higher-ed, and non-profit plan sponsors. PlanPILOT founder's prior employer; competes across the same RFP pipeline at larger scale.
- Mercer: Global consulting leader in health, wealth, and career, with a major U.S. defined contribution and OCIO practice. PlanPILOT's founder came from Mercer; competes for the same large plan-sponsor mandates with a much broader service portfolio.
- Aon Retirement Solutions: Global professional services firm with a large retirement plan advisory, OCIO, and actuarial practice. Competes with PlanPILOT for mid- and large-market plan sponsors and offers integrated actuarial and recordkeeper consulting.
- Empower Retirement ( Empower Advisory Group): Large recordkeeper and retirement plan advisory provider serving corporate, government, and non-profit plan sponsors. Competes on the advisory and OCIO side of the market and serves similar client segments to PlanPILOT.
Emerging players
- Verisight Retirement: Smaller independent retirement plan consulting firm focused on serving mid-sized plan sponsors with fiduciary and investment advisory services. Closely comparable in scale, independence, and target client profile to PlanPILOT.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Plan Pilot social profiles
Digital presencePlan Pilot financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Plan Pilot leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Plan Pilot funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Plan Pilot M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Plan Pilot
What does Plan Pilot do?
PlanPILOT is an independent retirement plan consulting firm that provides fiduciary advisory services for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan sponsors, covering plan governance, investment oversight, plan design, participant education, and provider consultation. The firm also offers OCIO search consulting and investment advisory for higher education endowments and non-profit foundations, supplemented by cybersecurity risk services for retirement plan data.
Is Plan Pilot a public or private company?
Plan Pilot is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Plan Pilot founded?
Plan Pilot was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Plan Pilot based?
Plan Pilot is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Plan Pilot make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Retirement Plan Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are OCIO Search Consulting.
Who are Plan Pilot's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SageView Advisory, CAPTRUST, BlueStar Retirement Services, Cammack Retirement Group and NFP Retirement. Broad incumbents are Willis Towers Watson, Mercer, Aon Retirement Solutions and Empower Retirement ( Empower Advisory Group). Verisight Retirement is listed as an emerging player.
Does Plan Pilot have an API?
No public API is recorded for Plan Pilot.
What industry is Plan Pilot in?
Plan Pilot's product category is Retirement Plan Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAEABAE, Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension), with a secondary code of FSAAACAG, Institutional Consulting RIAs (OCIO/Endowments/Foundations/Pensions). Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.