Our Expertise

The Pentegra SmartPath™

Successful plan outcomes start with effective plan design.

At Pentegra, we believe successful plan outcomes start with effective plan design. Plan features—automatic features—that better meet the needs of plan participants and plan sponsors can drive successful outcomes for participants and sponsors alike. Our SmartPathTM series is all about creating best practice plan designs geared toward achieving greater retirement readiness.  


The Pentegra SmartPath™

At Pentegra, we believe successful plan outcomes start with effective plan design. Plan features—automatic features—that better meet the needs of plan participants and plan sponsors can drive successful outcomes for participants and sponsors alike. The Pentegra SmartPath™ is a series of progressive plan design metrics crafted in a way to best ensure successful retirement outcomes by helping participants set a reasonable level of savings, increase their contributions over time, achieve proper investment diversification and best maximize a plan’s investment alternatives.

The Pentegra 403(b) SmartPath™

Promoting successful 403(b) plan outcomes begins with progressive plan design that maximizes positive participant behaviors. The Pentegra 403(b) SmartPath defines key plan features that can drive successful outcomes for participants and sponsors alike.

The Pentegra Participant SmartPath™

We know that it is never too early—or too late—to start planning and saving for retirement. The Pentegra Participant SmartPath™ offers simple, yet essential tips for building a savings and accumulation strategy that can put participants on the path toward more successful outcomes—and a secure retirement reality.

The Pentegra Distribution Path™

How do you transition from the accumulation phase to the decumulation phase and optimize your savings to ensure that it lasts a lifetime? The Pentegra Distribution Path™ offers simple, yet essential tips for creating a distribution and decumulation strategy to build a lifetime income stream and make a secure retirement a reality.

The Pentegra Advisor SmartPath™

Today, plan sponsors are focused on retirement outcomes and helping participants achieve adequate levels of retirement readiness. They are concerned with the changing regulatory landscape and overall plan administrative burdens—there is a strong desire to reduce workloads, fiduciary liability and risk. They want retirement plans to deliver successful outcomes—for the sponsor as well as the participant. What does this mean? Progressive plan design. Retirement income solutions. Communication and education that speak in terms of outcomes. Outsourced fiduciary responsibility. Simplified plan sponsor obligations. Broader retirement coverage. Today and in the future, plans that have these features will be well on track to succeed in delivering successful outcomes for everyone.

The Pentegra Advisor SmartPath™ is designed to help advisors focus on addressing these key challenges and opportunities with solutions that differentiate their services and guide plan sponsors and participants toward more successful outcomes.

The Pentegra Fiduciary SmartPath™

The laws governing retirement plans and their fiduciaries are complex, but complying with them doesn’t have to be. As an institutional fiduciary, Pentegra is intimately familiar with the role of a plan fiduciary and the responsibilities fiduciaries have to a retirement plan and its participants.

The Pentegra Fiduciary SmartPathTM is designed to help you understand your fiduciary responsibilities and corresponding liabilities and offers best practice recommendations and guidance for managing these duties.

The Pentegra 3(16) Administrator SmartPath™

Good retirement plans can be complicated. But servicing them doesn’t have to be. The multitude of filings, administrative duties and attention required to manage a retirement plan can be overwhelming and make it a rough road for you and your clients.

Pentegra’s 3(16) fiduciary outsourcing solution makes the path simple.

Today, many providers say they provide 3(16) services. Some take responsibility for a handful of tasks. At Pentegra, we sign the plan document and 5500, not only performing these duties but accepting responsibility for them.

Think of it as straightening out a curve filled, risky road.

The Pentegra Millennial SmartPath™

As the first true “post-pension” generation, millennials must save enough for retirement largely on their own. This can be challenging for a generation saddled with record levels of student loans, but millennials are rising to the challenge. The Pentegra Millennial SmartPath™ provides valuable information to help millennials on the path to greater financial wellness and retirement readiness.

Beyond The SmartPath™

One of the ways that we can continue to encourage more successful retirement outcomes is to provide participants with some important lessons learned from today’s retirees. Our newest installment in our SmartPath™ thought leadership series, “Beyond the SmartPath™,” is designed to help inspire today’s workers to take action.

“Beyond the SmartPath™” offers fundamental and indispensable advice from retirees on what they might have done differently as they looked back on their working years. Among the most important and concurrent themes—save more, start saving earlier and invest in a more educated manner.​