Retirement plan administration depends on the trust and satisfaction of plan sponsors. Sponsors are already juggling employee expectations, compliance requirements, and the complexities of payroll. The last thing they need is a clunky portal that adds friction to an already complicated process.
Unfortunately, for too many plan sponsors working with TPAs today, PlanSponsorLink (PSL) — PensionPro’s sponsor-facing portal — has become synonymous with frustration.
At first glance, PSL may seem like a functional tool. It provides a place for census uploads, document sharing, and some communications. But beneath the surface lies an outdated system that frustrates sponsors and hinders TPAs. And the cost isn’t just inconvenience — it’s satisfaction, retention, and long-term success.
For many sponsors, PSL feels like using software stuck in a different era.
Clunky User Interface
Sponsors describe PSL as “confusing” and “dated.” Navigating menus, finding documents, and completing tasks often requires unnecessary clicks and guesswork.Annual Census Pain
Each year, sponsors dread the census process. PSL forces sponsors to gather payroll data, format it, and upload it manually. For companies with multiple payrolls, this becomes a week-long project — repeated every year.Disconnected Systems
PSL does not integrate with most payroll providers, which means sponsors are left bridging the gap themselves. Errors pile up, creating more back-and-forth between sponsors and TPAs.Sponsor Burden = TPA Burden
What frustrates sponsors also slows down TPAs. Every complaint or missed step means extra calls, extra emails, and wasted hours.
What Sponsors Actually Want
Sponsors aren’t asking for the world — they’re asking for efficiency and ease.
Modern, intuitive design that looks like tools they already use in daily business.
Automation that eliminates repetitive tasks like manual census uploads.
Transparency into plan status and outstanding requests, without hunting for information.
Time savings, so HR leaders and CFOs can focus on employees, not admin work.
One plan sponsor put it simply:
“I just want this process to work like the other modern systems we use, without me needing to do the same painful tasks every year.”
Stax.ai built its Client Experience (CX) platform specifically to solve these frustrations. Rather than retrofitting an old system, CX was designed from the ground up with the sponsor in mind.
29% increase in client satisfaction within the first 90 days of implementation for TPAs who switch.
89% of surveyed sponsors said they prefer Stax.ai CX over PlanSponsorLink — and recommend it to their TPA.
Payroll-to-Census automation: Sponsors connect their payroll system once, and data flows automatically each year. No repetitive uploads, no reformatting.
Clean, modern portal that makes it easy to upload files, track requests, and view communications.
Here is what the CX Client Portal looks like for plan sponsors. When the user logs in, they see a modern dashboard with all information they need - plan details, record-keeper login, tasks, TPA contacts, notices, active requests, and messages between their team and the TPA automatically captured from their emails.
To complete census, they just need to confirm company details such as contacts and ownership...
And then connect your payroll provider. You have a searchable list with most major providers. If you can't find your provider, no worries! You can export a payroll report and upload it in its native format instead. Our AI will parse all the data and prepare your census.
No more finagling with spreadsheets or payroll reports!
And for any file sharing, go to "Files" to see an intuitive shared cloud file storage interface.
Story: The Sponsor Who Finally Got Their Time Back
Consider ABC Manufacturing, a mid-sized company with 250 employees. Every January, their HR manager dreaded the PSL census upload. She would:
Pull reports from payroll.
Reformat spreadsheets to PSL’s specifications.
Upload files — only to get errors and requests for corrections.
Spend two weeks emailing back and forth with her TPA.
When her TPA switched to Stax.ai CX, the process changed overnight. She connected their payroll provider once, and census data began flowing automatically. What had once taken 40+ hours of work each year now took less than an hour.
Her response to the TPA after that first year?
“This feels like night and day compared to what we used to go through.”
Case Study: Sponsor Satisfaction by the Numbers
In a survey of plan sponsors whose TPAs switched from PensionPro to Stax.ai CX:
89% said they prefer Stax.ai CX and would recommend it to other TPAs.
78% reported saving at least 10 hours per year compared to PSL.
65% said they feel more confident in their TPA’s processes now that they use Stax.ai CX.
And for TPAs, the results are equally powerful:
Fewer support calls related to portal confusion.
Faster census turnaround times.
Higher retention rates, because satisfied sponsors stay.
At first, it might seem like the portal is a “sponsor problem.” But in reality, sponsor frustration quickly becomes a TPA problem.
Retention risk: Sponsors frustrated with PSL often start looking for TPAs with better technology.
Inefficient operations: Every manual upload = more TPA time spent fixing data.
Missed growth: Happy sponsors refer new clients. Frustrated ones don’t.
TPAs using Stax.ai CX are reporting stronger client relationships and more referrals — because their sponsors are happy enough to advocate on their behalf.
As one TPA operations manager told us:
“Our sponsors used to complain about PSL every year. Since moving to Stax.ai CX, we haven’t heard a single complaint. Instead, my consultants have forwarded me multiple emails from plan sponsors who said they loved the new portal!”
The Bigger Picture: Future-Proofing Sponsor Experience
The retirement industry is shifting fast. Sponsors and participants expect technology to be:
Mobile-ready.
Automated.
Transparent.
TPAs who continue relying on outdated tools risk falling behind — not just in technology, but in sponsor satisfaction, retention, and growth. By contrast, those who modernize with Stax.ai CX position themselves as forward-looking partners.
This isn’t just about software. It’s about building sponsor relationships that last.
Plan sponsors deserve more than outdated systems like PlanSponsorLink. They deserve modern tools that respect their time, reduce errors, and improve their overall experience.
With Stax.ai CX, TPAs can deliver exactly that — and the results are clear: happier sponsors, more efficient processes, and stronger TPA businesses.
If you’re a plan sponsor, you don’t have to settle for the frustration of outdated systems like PlanSponsorLink. Your TPA deserves to know there’s a much better alternative that improves your experience and theirs.
If you’re a TPA, you and your plan sponsors deserve better. Stax.ai CX delivers a modern, automated, and sponsor-friendly portal that increases satisfaction and efficiency.
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Deliver the modern sponsor experience your clients are asking for.