markley actuarial svcs.

What markley actuarial svcs. does

Markley Actuarial Services, Inc. was an independently owned actuarial firm founded in 1985 and headquartered in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, providing third-party administration (TPA) and actuarial consulting services for retirement plans. The firm served two primary customer segments: small to mid-sized plan sponsors and employers seeking administration for their retirement plans, and financial advisors and recordkeeping partners who required actuarial capabilities and plan design support for their clients. Core services included plan design and consultation, cash balance plans, frozen defined benefit plan administration, and full-service third-party administration for both defined contribution (e.g., 401(k)) and defined benefit plans, with revenues generated through recurring administration fees and actuarial consulting engagements.

The firm's business model was structured around subscription-style recurring fees tied to ongoing plan administration, supplemented by project-based actuarial consulting work. Go-to-market was sales-led, relying on partner-driven relationships and referrals rather than a formal marketing apparatus. After 33 years of independent operation, Markley was acquired by The Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA), a Wisconsin-based national retirement services provider, on March 30, 2018. Founding partners John Markley and Lisa Showalter were retained in ongoing roles (CEO and Director of Business Development, respectively), and the Markley team was fully integrated into TRA, expanding TRA's actuarial capabilities and national footprint to 31 states.

From a technology and product surface perspective, the input data contains no evidence of proprietary technology platforms, AI/ML capabilities, patents, or productized software; the offering is built on traditional actuarial expertise, compliance-driven plan administration workflows, and partner-level client service. Operating as a subsidiary of TRA, the firm now contributes actuarial capabilities to TRA's broader retirement services platform, which includes 3(16) fiduciary services, pooled employer plans, and adjacent compliance and consulting offerings.

Name

markley actuarial svcs.

Legal name

Markley Actuarial Services, Inc.

Website

https://markleyactuarial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Acquired

Short description

Markley Actuarial Services, Inc. was a Lancaster, PA-based independent actuarial firm providing third-party administration and actuarial consulting for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans, serving small to mid-sized plan sponsors, financial advisors, and recordkeeping partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retirement Plan Administration

NAICS

Pension Funds (525110)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Employee Benefit & Retirement Plan Trust Services (FSAAANAC)

Keywords

• Actuarial consulting services
• Retirement plan administration
• Third-party administration
• Defined benefit plans
• Cash balance plans

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Retirement Plan Administration and Actuarial Services: Markley Actuarial Services generated revenue through third-party administration fees and actuarial consulting services for retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit plans, cash balance plans, and plan design consultation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Markley Actuarial Services, Inc. provided third-party administration and actuarial consulting services for retirement plans. Its core offerings included plan design and consultation, cash balance plans, frozen defined benefit plan services, and full-service third-party administration for both defined contribution and defined benefit plans. The firm served plan sponsors, employers, financial advisors, and recordkeeping partners.

Product overview

Markley Actuarial Services was an independently owned actuarial firm established in 1985 and headquartered in Lancaster, PA, acquired by The Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA) on March 30, 2018. The firm specialized as a third-party administrator and actuary for retirement plans, offering plan design and consultation services, cash balance plans, frozen defined benefit plan services, and full-service third-party administration for both defined contribution and defined benefit plans. The 33-year-old company now operates under TRA's national retirement services platform, expanding actuarial consulting capabilities across 31 states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plan Design and Consultation Services Custom retirement plan design and consulting services for employers and financial advisors, including plan structure, contribution strategies, and compliance considerations.
• Cash Balance Plans Defined benefit retirement plans providing retirement benefits expressed as account balances with guaranteed interest credits, suitable for business owners seeking higher contribution limits.
• Frozen Defined Benefit Plan Services Administration and management services for defined benefit plans that have been frozen and no longer accept new contributions.
• Third-Party Administration (Defined Contribution) Full-service third-party administration for defined contribution plans including 401(k) plans, handling compliance testing, participant communications, and regulatory filings.
• Third-Party Administration (Defined Benefit) Full-service third-party administration for defined benefit plans, managing actuarial calculations, required contributions, and pension benefit obligations.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• The Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2018Markley Actuarial Services, Inc. was acquired by The Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA) on March 30, 2018. Markley partners, clients, and employees were integrated into TRA, expanding TRA's actuarial consulting capabilities and extending its national footprint. Markley partners took ongoing roles within TRA, with Lisa Showalter becoming Director of Business Development and John Markley continuing as founding partner and CEO under the TRA umbrella.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Transamerica: Transamerica offers retirement plan solutions, including plan administration and recordkeeping, to employers and financial professionals. Its broader insurance and asset-management platform makes it an incumbent peer rather than a pure-play TPA.
• Vanguard: Vanguard serves employer-sponsored retirement plans through institutional investment, recordkeeping, and participant services. It is a broader financial-services incumbent competing for the plan sponsors and advisor relationships that use retirement TPAs.
• ADP: ADP offers retirement plan administration alongside payroll, human capital management, and other employer services. It is a broader incumbent but competes directly for small and mid-sized employers seeking outsourced 401(k) administration.
• Paychex: Paychex provides retirement plan administration and recordkeeping as part of a broader payroll and SMB employer-services platform. Its integrated delivery model serves substantially the same small-business plan-sponsor segment.
• Principal Financial Group: Principal provides retirement plans, administration, recordkeeping, and actuarial-related solutions to employers and advisors. It is a broad incumbent with an overlapping retirement-plan customer base and service mix.
• Fidelity Investments: Fidelity Workplace Services provides retirement plan administration, recordkeeping, investments, and participant support. It overlaps with Markley Actuarial through employer-plan administration but operates with a much wider financial-services offering.

Emerging players

• Mercer: Mercer provides retirement, benefits, and actuarial consulting to employers and advisors. It is a specialized adjacent comparator for Markley's plan-design and consulting activities but serves a broader benefits-advisory mandate.
• Milliman: Milliman is a specialist actuarial and consulting firm with retirement and employee-benefit capabilities. It has meaningful overlap in actuarial consulting and defined benefit plan expertise, although it does not focus primarily on Markley's full-service TPA model.

Direct peers

• Empower: Empower provides workplace retirement plan recordkeeping, administration, and investment services to employers and retirement plan participants. It competes for many of the same employer and advisor relationships targeted by Markley Actuarial.
• Ascensus: Ascensus is a direct retirement-services competitor providing recordkeeping, third-party administration, and related services to employers, advisors, and participants. Its retirement-plan administration and advisor-channel model closely overlaps Markley Actuarial's core offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/markley-actuarial-services-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 markley actuarial svcs.