Pension Resource Institute and affiliated pooled employer plan firm Group Plan Systems have announced leadership changes as GPS moves to what it called a more integrated and technology-forward service structure and PRI expands its compliance and practice management support for retirement plan businesses.
GPS appointed Haley Erickson chief compliance officer to lead the transition across its pooled employer plan platform. The company said GPS currently operates or has in the launch phase more than 30 pooled employer plans, or PEPs, and fills multiple legal roles for retirement plans, including ERISA Section 402(a) Named Fiduciary, ERISA Section 3(16) Plan Administrator and Plan Sponsor roles.
GPS also added Justina Feliz as fiduciary consultant to handle onboarding for new PEPs and take on day-to-day compliance duties previously held by Erickson.
Erickson’s appointment came alongside the promotion of Annie Messer to president of PRI. Messer joined PRI in 2023 after 14 years at Cambridge Investment Research and previously served as PRI’s president of member relations. The San Diego-based firm said the changes are part of a two-year plan to build what founder and CEO Jason Roberts called “an integrated model of legal and operational fiduciary expertise across our ecosystem.”
Erickson, who brings 15 years of third-party administrator experience, said her focus at GPS will be delivering a “consistent, predictable experience” as clients build and manage pooled plan businesses.
PRI said it supports more than 70 member firms and roughly 50,000 financial professionals with ERISA expertise delivered through a configurable compliance platform, training, document resources, practice management tools, rule monitoring and unlimited home office consulting. According to the firm, PRI’s content and compliance support can be accessed through its Advisor Resource Center (ARC) portal or embedded into the systems and workflows firms already use.
PRI also named Erin Fager its first director of marketing and communications to support demand for employer-facing content and related resources. Steve Niehoff, previously chief operating officer at GPS and related PRI businesses, will step back from daily operations effective August 1, 2026, and continue in a controller capacity as an independent contractor.
