What does a pension administrator do?
Pension administrator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pension administrator resumes:
- Lead special project team construct to interpret the initial impact of ERISA legislation on company pension operations.
- Participate in establishing and testing pension plans on PeopleSoft to automate applicable calculations.
- Assist in plan design issues that comply with client needs and ERISA and DOL laws.
- Train in filing of 5500 tax returns with the DOL.
- Review trend analysis for fail ACP and ADP tests.
- Conduct top heavy, ADP, and ACP compliance testing of define contribution plans.
- Assure plan compliance through preparing VFCP corrections or guiding clients through DOL audits.
- Enter valuation data for various plans using the RELIUS system and compile results.
- Train offshore employees in Relius Administration/trust reconciliation and develop training materials.
- Reconcile assets transfer and post conversion balance data to new recordkeeping system.
- Assign to the recordkeeping of define benefit and balance forward define contribution retirement plans.
- Support and/or facilitate settlement of trades and other daily transactions involving domestic, and global fix income and equity securities.
- Review pension benefit calculations and answer administration questions for temporary and full-time staff and correspond with plan participants regarding benefit concerns.
- Perform defined benefit pension calculations and act as retirement specialist to communicate entitlement information under various benefit programs available to participants.
- Coordinate with application/server owners to minimize outage windows for performing maintenance and upgrades.
Pension administrator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Pension Administrators are proficient in Customer Service, Plan Administration, and IRS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Pension Administrators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 11%
Provided excellent customer service, accurate and efficient administration of benefits to participants of terminated defined pension plans.
- Plan Administration, 9%
Reviewed conversion plans and processed plan conversions from balance forward to daily valuation plan administration.
- IRS, 7%
Prepared defined contribution plan termination and merger packages for IRS submission.
- Financial Statements, 7%
Prepared Forms 5500 and annual financial statements to be used as a basis for the plans' accountant's reports.
- ERISA, 7%
Led special project team constructed to interpret the initial impact of ERISA legislation on company pension operations.
- DOL, 5%
Managed and resolved participant escalations and requests from DOL.
Most pension administrators use their skills in "customer service," "plan administration," and "irs" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential pension administrator responsibilities here:
Business skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a pension administrator to have is business skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "specialists must understand basic finance and accounting." Pension administrators often use business skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "manage and develop excellent relations with external hr, brokers, doctor and internal departments for the annuities line of business. "
Analytical skills. Many pension administrator duties rely on analytical skills. "compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists perform data and cost analyses to evaluate their organization’s policies," so a pension administrator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways pension administrator responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "reviewed trend analysis for failed acp and adp tests. "
Communication skills. pension administrators are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to pension administrator responsibilities, because "specialists need to provide information about compensation and benefits in a way that is understandable to employees at all levels throughout their organization." A pension administrator resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "drafted plan documents, amendments, including submissions to dol, summary annual reports, summary plan descriptions and employee communications. "
The three companies that hire the most pension administrators are:
- Allianz Life2 pension administrators jobs
- Fidelity Investments1 pension administrators jobs
- Lane Enterprises1 pension administrators jobs
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Compare different pension administrators
Pension administrator vs. Provider enrollment specialist
A provider enrollment specialist is in charge of handling application procedures in a company or facility. Their responsibilities typically revolve around gathering information, reviewing and verifying requirements, processing applications, and liaising with clients. They may also maintain and update databases, assist during complicated procedures, and ensure that all requirements are complete and accurate. Furthermore, as a provider enrollment specialist, it is essential to discuss terms and conditions to clients, helping them understand the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a pension administrator are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "plan administration," "irs," and "financial statements." On the other hand, a job as a provider enrollment specialist requires skills like "data entry," "patients," "caqh," and "medicare." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Provider enrollment specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than pension administrators. In fact, provider enrollment specialists are 3.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Pension administrator vs. Enrollment specialist
Typically the responsibilities of an enrollment specialist revolve around gathering information from clients, explaining policies and regulations, obtaining requirements, and determining whether the clients are eligible for the program or service. They also process and verify applications, maintain records and database of information, and handle any issues and concerns. There are also instances where they must manage billing and even process payments. Furthermore, an enrollment specialist must adhere to the company's policies and standards while reaching out to clients.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that pension administrator responsibilities requires skills like "plan administration," "irs," "financial statements," and "erisa." But an enrollment specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "data entry," "health insurance," and "enrollment process."
Enrollment specialists earn similar levels of education than pension administrators in general. They're 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pension administrator vs. Retirement specialist
A retirement specialist is responsible for designing and implementing retirement packages such as benefits, savings, profit sharing, and pensions to the employees of a certain company. They work together with the human resource department to ensure that all retirees can access their benefits and pensions. Their duties and responsibilities include explaining the different retirement packages to the potential beneficiaries and working with HR to resolve any issues.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a pension administrator is likely to be skilled in "plan administration," "financial statements," "dol," and "asc," while a typical retirement specialist is skilled in "life insurance," "recordkeeping," "payroll," and "medicare."
Retirement specialists typically earn similar educational levels compared to pension administrators. Specifically, they're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pension administrator vs. Payroll and benefits specialist
A payroll and benefits specialist's role is to oversee and manage a company's compensation procedures, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Their responsibilities typically include gathering and organizing timesheets, preparing and processing documentation, monitoring employee attendance and schedules, updating databases, preparing and processing invoices, and maintaining records of all transactions. Furthermore, as a payroll and benefits specialist, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with other staff to ensure accuracy in operations, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Types of pension administrator
Updated January 8, 2025
