ACEC Retirement Trust
Nonprofit collective trust founded in 1973, exclusively providing 401(k) retirement plans, fiduciary protection, and financial wellness services to ACEC member engineering firms via partners CAPTRUST, Empower, and McDermott Will & Schulte.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1973
- HeadquartersRoswell, United States
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ACEC Retirement Trust does
ACEC Retirement Trust is a nonprofit ERISA-governed collective trust founded in 1973 and structured exclusively for engineering firms that are members of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Its core offering is a 401(k) retirement plan program that delivers fiduciary protection, institutional-grade investment options, and recordkeeping services to ACEC member firms and their affiliates. The trust is not open to the general market; participation is gated entirely by ACEC membership, and governance is provided by a Board of Trustees composed of principals from participating member engineering firms.
The trust operates as an orchestration layer over three premier service providers: CAPTRUST serves as the 3(38) Investment Manager responsible for selecting and overseeing plan investment options, Empower provides the recordkeeping platform and participant-facing services (including complimentary Certified Financial Planning, a digital financial planning dashboard, and eLearning seminars), and McDermott Will & Schulte serves as ERISA legal counsel for compliance, fiduciary training, and regulatory updates. Additional product modules include the Blueprint Income Solutions retirement income marketplace, which provides participants access to annuity products for converting accumulated savings into guaranteed lifetime income. None of the underlying technology is proprietary to the trust — the platform architecture is a third-party-provided stack centered on Empower's recordkeeping system.
The business model is fee-based and subscription-like: the trust collects administrative fees from participating member firms for retirement plan administration, fiduciary services, and access to negotiated investment options. The collective structure is the core economic mechanism — by aggregating demand across ACEC members, the trust secures institutional pricing from top-tier providers that individual mid-market engineering firms could not obtain independently. Go-to-market is conducted through the ACEC membership network via direct client engagement (handled by a small team including Client Engagement staff and the Executive Director), quarterly Plan Sponsor webinars, member referrals, and a "Benchmark My Plan" lead capture form on the website. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the trust emphasizes all-inclusive fees, lower expenses than standalone plans, and competitive institutional pricing negotiated at the collective level.
ACEC Retirement Trust firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ACEC Retirement Trust
- Legal name
- ACEC Retirement Trust
- Website
- https://acecrt.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1973
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 5,001–10,000 employees
- Short description
- Nonprofit collective trust founded in 1973, exclusively providing 401(k) retirement plans, fiduciary protection, and financial wellness services to ACEC member engineering firms via partners CAPTRUST, Empower, and McDermott Will & Schulte.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ACEC Retirement Trust industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Retirement Plan Administration
- NAICS
- Pension Funds (525110)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Employee Benefit & Retirement Plan Trust Services (FSAAANAC), Corporate Retirement Plan Advisory RIAs (ERISA 401(k)/403(b)) (FSAAACAF), Retirement Plan Participant Advice & Managed Accounts (FSAEABAF)
Keywords
Where ACEC Retirement Trust is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Roswell
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ACEC Retirement Trust business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Retirement plan administration fees: As a nonprofit collective trust for ACEC member firms, the trust generates revenue through fees charged to participating member firms for retirement plan administration, fiduciary services, and access to negotiated investment options. The collective structure enables institutional pricing and cost savings passed along to members.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | — | Trust-rates negotiated for optimal savings |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
ACEC Retirement Trust product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ACEC Retirement Trust is a private retirement plan trust established in 1973 that provides retirement plan administration, investment management, and fiduciary services exclusively to member firms of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The trust operates as a pooled retirement plan, leveraging third-party service providers — Empower for recordkeeping, CAPTRUST for investment management, and McDermott Will & Schulte for legal counsel — to deliver retirement benefits tailored to engineering firms.
Product overview
ACEC Retirement Trust is a single, unified retirement plan program designed exclusively for ACEC member engineering firms. The program integrates four key service providers: CAPTRUST (3(38) Investment Manager providing fiduciary oversight and investment selection), Empower (recordkeeping platform handling participant accounts, education, and advisory services), and McDermott Will & Schulte (ERISA legal counsel). The offering combines the core retirement plan with Certified Financial Planning Services, Blueprint Income Solutions (retirement income marketplace for annuity products), a Digital Financial Planning Dashboard, and Learning at Your Leisure eLearning seminars. Members benefit from pooled buying power, reduced fiduciary liability, and access to investment options typically unavailable to individual firms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- ACEC Retirement Trust Program A pooled retirement plan program for ACEC member engineering firms, providing recordkeeping (via Empower), investment management (via CAPTRUST), and legal/fiduciary services (via McDermott Will & Schulte). Designed to help engineering firms offer competitive retirement benefits while reducing administrative burden and fiduciary risk.
Quantifiable outcome
- 78% of employees express general interest in financial planning
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ACEC Retirement Trust
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
ACEC Retirement Trust technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
ACEC Retirement Trust partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- CAPTRUSTcoreCAPTRUST serves as the 3(38) Investment Manager for the trust. As the nation's largest independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), CAPTRUST is responsible for analyzing and selecting the trust's investment options, delivering comprehensive investment reports, and providing economic market reviews and outlooks.
- EmpowercoreEmpower is the top recordkeeper in the United States and supplies the plan's recordkeeping platform. They manage all aspects of recordkeeping, provide education for participants and plan sponsors, and offer personalized investment advice and Certified Financial Planning to each participant at no additional cost.
- McDermott Will & SchultecoreRecognized as a leading ERISA law firm, McDermott Will & Schulte serves as the legal consultant for the ACEC Retirement Trust. They provide legal oversight for ERISA compliance, deliver fiduciary training for Trustees and plan sponsors, and keep the trust informed of legislative and regulatory updates.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ACEC Retirement Trust competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Vestwell: Emerging Pooled Employer Plan (PEP) provider offering modern recordkeeping, fiduciary services, and white-labeled retirement solutions to associations, small businesses, and financial advisors. Represents a more technology-forward threat to legacy association-MEP models like ACEC's.
- OneAmerica Retirement Services: Provider of retirement plan solutions including pooled employer plans and association-endorsed programs for professional groups, with emphasis on mid-market employer clients. Comparable business model and target member profile.
Direct peers
- ABA Members Retirement Program: Association-endorsed retirement program exclusively for American Bar Association members, structured similarly to ACEC Retirement Trust as a pooled/collective plan with negotiated institutional pricing and fiduciary protection. Closest analog in professional-association MEP/collective trust model.
- AICPA Member Insurance & Retirement Programs: Endorsed retirement and insurance programs exclusively for AICPA members, providing access to group-rate retirement plans for accounting firms of all sizes. Operates on the same association-endorsed collective purchasing model as ACEC Retirement Trust.
- Pentegra Retirement Services: Provider of retirement plan solutions to associations, financial institutions, and their employer members, with a long-standing association-collective trust model. Offers pooled 401(k) structures and acts as a fiduciary/3(38) manager, directly comparable to ACEC's CAPTRUST/Empower-led structure.
Broad incumbents
- Empower Retirement: ACEC's core recordkeeper and the largest US recordkeeper, serving both association-affiliated and direct corporate 401(k) plans. A partner to ACEC but also a broad incumbent competing for similar employer relationships outside the ACEC network.
- Fidelity Workplace Investing: Among the largest US 401(k) recordkeepers and a major institutional retirement plan provider. Competes directly with ACEC's offering for engineering firm clients through scale pricing and broad investment menus.
- CAPTRUST: ACEC's 3(38) Investment Manager and the largest independent RIA in the US, serving corporate, association, and high-net-worth retirement plans. Partner to ACEC Retirement Trust but operates broadly across similar pooled/collective plan structures for other associations.
- Vanguard Retirement Plan Services: One of the largest US retirement plan recordkeepers and investment managers, offering low-cost institutional 401(k) plans to employers of all sizes. Competes with association-endorsed plans by offering scale economics and low-cost fund lineups similar to what ACEC provides.
Others
- McDermott Will & Schulte: Leading ERISA law firm serving as legal counsel to ACEC Retirement Trust. Adjacent enabler rather than competitor, but operates extensively with other retirement plans and associations, providing similar fiduciary/ERISA services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ACEC Retirement Trust social profiles
Digital presenceACEC Retirement Trust financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ACEC Retirement Trust leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ACEC Retirement Trust funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ACEC Retirement Trust 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 ACEC Retirement Trust
What does ACEC Retirement Trust do?
ACEC Retirement Trust is a private retirement plan trust established in 1973 that provides retirement plan administration, investment management, and fiduciary services exclusively to member firms of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The trust operates as a pooled retirement plan, leveraging third-party service providers — Empower for recordkeeping, CAPTRUST for investment management, and McDermott Will & Schulte for legal counsel — to deliver retirement benefits tailored to engineering firms.
Is ACEC Retirement Trust a public or private company?
ACEC Retirement Trust is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was ACEC Retirement Trust founded?
ACEC Retirement Trust was founded in 1973. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is ACEC Retirement Trust based?
ACEC Retirement Trust is headquartered in Roswell, United States, in the North America region.
How does ACEC Retirement Trust make money?
One revenue line is on record: retirement plan administration fees.
Who are ACEC Retirement Trust's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Vestwell and OneAmerica Retirement Services. Direct peers are ABA Members Retirement Program, AICPA Member Insurance & Retirement Programs and Pentegra Retirement Services. Broad incumbents are Empower Retirement, Fidelity Workplace Investing, CAPTRUST and Vanguard Retirement Plan Services. McDermott Will & Schulte is listed as an others.
Does ACEC Retirement Trust have an API?
No public API is recorded for ACEC Retirement Trust.
What industry is ACEC Retirement Trust in?
ACEC Retirement Trust's product category is Retirement Plan Administration. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAEABAE, Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension), with a secondary code of FSAAANAC, Employee Benefit & Retirement Plan Trust Services. Its NAICS code is 525110 and its SIC code is 6282.