YMCA Retirement Fund

What YMCA Retirement Fund does

YMCA Retirement Fund (d/b/a Y Retirement) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1921 by special act of the New York State Legislature to provide retirement benefits to employees of the YMCA movement across the United States. It operates as a multiple employer defined contribution, money purchase pension plan that also qualifies as a church plan, serving approximately 700+ YMCA employers and 125,000+ participants with plan assets of $3.876 billion in the 401(a) plan as of June 30, 2025 (and over $10 billion in total assets under management across both plans).

The Fund's core product architecture is built around two plans: the 401(a) Retirement Plan, where YMCA employers contribute between 8% and 12% of gross employee pay with daily compounding interest; and the 403(b) Savings Plan, a voluntary plan offering Tax-Deferred, Roth, and Rollover accounts. Participants can convert savings into guaranteed lifetime income via annuity products (Single Life or Joint & Survivor options). Supporting technology infrastructure includes the Y Retirement mobile application on iOS/Android, a Lifetime Income Tracker, an online account portal at accounts.yretirement.org, and "Penny," an AI-powered virtual assistant chatbot for FAQ and general support. Investment management is conducted in-house across equities (public and private), fixed income, real assets, and hedge fund strategies, with Northern Trust acting as custodian.

The Fund's revenue model is built on three streams: (i) employer contributions of $224.4M (FY 2025) into the 401(a) plan, (ii) employee voluntary contributions into the 403(b) plan ($8.4M FY 2025), and (iii) retained economics from the purchase of life annuities, with $142.5M paid to the Fund for annuity purchases in FY 2025 against total plan income of $375.3M. Go-to-market is enterprise field-sales oriented: 700+ YMCA HR departments facilitate automatic employee enrollment into the 401(a) plan, while participants self-serve via web, mobile app, phone (800-RET-YMCA), and the Penny chatbot. Partner ecosystem includes Northern Trust (custodian), Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (disability claims administrator), HSA Bank (HSA services), Aptia365 (health insurance marketplace), and United Healthcare (Health Advocate). The Fund is governed by a Board of Trustees and led by President & CEO Michael B. Cefole (seventh CEO, appointed 2022), with a deeply staffed investment function led by CIO Hunter S. Reisner.

Name

YMCA Retirement Fund

Legal name

YMCA Retirement Fund

Website

https://yretirement.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1921

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

YMCA Retirement Fund is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, church-plan-designated multiple-employer retirement platform providing 401(a) and 403(b) plans, lifetime annuity income, and related benefits to 125,000+ employees of 700+ YMCA employers across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retirement Plan Administration

NAICS

Pension Funds (525110)

akta.pro primary industry

Pension Master Trusts, Superannuation & Provident Funds (FSAAAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pensions & Retirement Benefits Administration (BPAIAKAA)

Keywords

• Retirement plan administration
• Multiple employer 401(a) plans
• Annuity and lifetime income
• YMCA employee benefits
• 403(b) savings programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. 401(a) Retirement Plan Contributions: YMCA employers contribute between 8% and 12% of gross employee pay to the 401(a) Retirement Plan on behalf of eligible employees. Some YMCAs require employees to share a portion of the contribution, but employers must always contribute more than employees. These contributions accumulate with daily compounding interest.
2. 403(b) Savings Plan Administration: Voluntary retirement savings plan where YMCA employees contribute through payroll deduction. Contributions grow with daily compounding tax-deferred interest. The Plan offers Tax-Deferred Accounts, Roth Accounts, and Rollover Accounts.
3. Life Annuity Purchases: Plan expenses of $234,691,000 included $142,549,000 paid to the YMCA Retirement Fund for the purchase of life annuities. The Fund converts participant savings into guaranteed lifetime income payments.
4. Total Plan Assets Under Management: The Fund manages over $10 billion in assets across 125,000+ participants. EIN#13-5562401, Plan No. 001. Total plan assets were $3,876,243,000 as of June 30, 2025.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

YMCA Retirement Fund (Y Retirement) administers a multiple employer, church-plan 401(a) Retirement Plan and a voluntary 403(b) Savings Plan for paid YMCA employees across the United States, accumulating participant balances with daily compounding interest and converting eligible accumulations into guaranteed lifetime annuity income at retirement. The Fund also provides participant account access via an online portal, iOS/Android mobile app, AI virtual assistant, educational resources, and disability retirement claims administration.

Product overview

YMCA Retirement Fund (Y Retirement) offers a unified retirement benefits platform built around two core retirement plans and associated services. The primary offerings are the 401(a) Retirement Plan (a defined contribution, money purchase pension plan with YMCA contributions of 8-12% of gross pay) and the 403(b) Savings Plan (voluntary savings with Tax-Deferred and Roth account options). These core plans are supplemented by Lifetime Income/Annuity options to convert savings to guaranteed monthly payments, a Learning Center with educational videos and courses, the Y Retirement Mobile App for iOS/Android, a Lifetime Income Tracker tool, and Penny, an AI-powered virtual assistant. The platform emphasizes guaranteed income for life, daily compounding interest, and protection from market volatility and investment risk.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 401(a) Retirement Plan A multiple employer defined contribution, money purchase pension plan (also a church plan under U.S. Public Law 108-476) for YMCA employees. YMCA employers typically contribute 8-12% of gross pay, with daily compounding interest credited to participant accounts. Designed to combine features of a 401(k) (accumulation flexibility) with features of a pension (guaranteed lifetime income). Eligible YMCA employees are automatically enrolled.
• 403(b) Savings Plan A voluntary retirement savings plan available to all paid YMCA employees regardless of age, hours, compensation, or length of service. Offers Tax-Deferred Account (pre-tax), Roth Account (after-tax), Rollover Account, and Roth Rollover Account options with daily compounding tax-deferred interest. Voluntary contributions via payroll deduction; no minimum contribution (as low as $5 per paycheck). Employees can start, stop, or change contributions at any time.
• Lifetime Income / Annuity Converts accumulated YMCA Retirement Fund savings into guaranteed monthly income payments for life, available to participants age 55 or older who are no longer working for a Y. Offers Single Life options (Maximum and Principal Guarantee) and Joint & Survivor options (100%, 75%, or 50% survivor benefits). Guarantees cannot be outlived.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% of Participants are Satisfied with Y Retirement (2025 Plan Participant Survey)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Northern TrustcoreTechnology or IntegrationNorthern Trust serves as the Fund's custodian, managing the movement of funds and providing banking services for the retirement plan assets.
• The Lincoln National Life Insurance CompanycoreTechnology or IntegrationLincoln National serves as the Disability Administrator, reviewing and processing disability retirement claims. The company specializes in disability benefits and acts as claims fiduciary for the Fund.
• Aptia365minorOthersAptia365 provides health insurance marketplace services. Use of Aptia365 is completely voluntary. Neither Y Retirement nor local YMCAs provide personal data to Aptia365.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fidelity Investments (Workplace Investing): Fidelity is a broad incumbent that administers 401(a) and 403(b) plans across many employer types, including nonprofit and healthcare sectors. While not specialized to YMCA, it competes for the same workplace retirement dollars and serves similar voluntary savings use cases.
• Principal Financial Group: Principal operates a large retirement and personal wealth business serving employer-sponsored plans, including 401(a) money purchase pension plans — the exact same plan design Y Retirement administers. It is a broad incumbent in the same regulatory and product category.
• MetLife (Retirement & Income Solutions): MetLife administers workplace retirement plans and issues group annuities for plan termination / participant payout — the same payout model Y Retirement uses via its lifetime income/annuity product. It serves many of the same healthcare, education, and nonprofit employer segments.

Direct peers

• Empower Retirement: Empower (now part of Empower Annuity Insurance Company) is one of the largest DC plan administrators in the U.S., serving millions of participants across multiple employer plans including in nonprofit, healthcare, and education — the same verticals that overlap with YMCA employers.
• Voya Financial: Voya is a major provider of retirement plan administration for nonprofit, healthcare, and K-12 employers, including 403(b) and 457 plans. It competes for the same voluntary savings share among YMCA employees and offers similar annuity conversion features.
• TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association): TIAA is the closest direct peer — a nonprofit organization providing retirement and annuity products specifically for the education and nonprofit workforce. Like Y Retirement, it offers hybrid DC/DB-style accumulation combined with lifetime annuity conversion, and serves a similar mission-driven employee base.
• Lincoln Financial Group: Lincoln Financial is both a partner (serves as Disability Administrator for Y Retirement) and a competitor in retirement plan administration and annuity products. It offers group annuities and lifetime income solutions that directly overlap with Y Retirement's annuity purchase model.
• Church Pension Group (CPG): CPG administers retirement, health, and welfare benefits for clergy and lay employees of the Episcopal Church — also a designated church plan with a similar nonprofit, multi-employer DC/annuity structure. While serving a different faith-based constituency, the operational model (church plan + annuity conversion) parallels Y Retirement directly.
• Mutual of America: Mutual of America specializes in retirement plan administration for nonprofit and public-sector employers, including religious organizations and other 501(c)(3) entities. It runs multiple-employer arrangements analogous to Y Retirement and offers both 401(a) and 403(b) plans with annuity features.
• Vanguard (Workplace Retirement): Vanguard operates a large 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plan administration business, deeply penetrating the education and nonprofit sectors. It competes head-to-head with Y Retirement for 403(b) voluntary savings contributions from YMCA employees.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ymcarf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ymca-retirement-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/yretirementfund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

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 YMCA Retirement Fund