LLR Invests in SaaS Employee Benefits Admin Platform benefitexpress

March 22, 2016

Industry leader Michael Sternklar named CEO of benefitexpress to help drive continued growth

LLR Partners made a private equity investment in benefitexpress, the leading middle market, cloud-based platform for employee benefits and health exchange services. The capital will be used to support company growth, expand sales and marketing and continue to build out the platform.

As part of the investment, Michael Sternklar, former head of Mercer’s North American benefits outsourcing business, will become CEO of benefitexpress. Michael brings more than 30 years of experience leading benefits administration organizations including Fidelity Investments, Kwasha Lipton and PwC. Maria Bradley, Founder and President of benefitexpress, will continue to play a critical role in driving the company’s growth strategy as a Senior Advisor and member of its Board of Directors.

“Maria Bradley and her management team have leveraged tremendous industry knowledge and experience to build a market-leading benefits administration platform, further distinguished by exceptional services capabilities and a loyal customer base,” said Sternklar. “Now with the capital and strategic support of LLR Partners, I am confident that benefitexpress can accelerate new opportunities in this emerging space. I look forward to steering that growth.”

“Employers, brokers, insurance carriers and private exchanges are quickly recognizing their need for sophisticated software to manage communications, provide decision support, enroll employees and administer benefits,” said Sasank Aleti, Vice President at LLR Partners. “benefitexpress offers a uniquely configurable, scalable platform to automate this complex process. Led by Michael and the solid, existing management team, benefitexpress has the opportunity to capture a significantly underpenetrated market.”

By offering a SaaS solution that integrates all benefits, in a one stop shop, benefitexpress provides simplicity to complex plans and offers a custom-made experience to engage and educate employees while offering employers an ease of benefit management that is unmatched in market. benefitexpress provides a full range of services, including benefit enrollment, management and administration as well as direct bill services, reimbursement account administration, carrier bill reconciliation, total compensation statements, and a full service call center.

“This transaction brings the best that benefitexpress has to offer – first class customer service, industry-leading technology and deep domain knowledge – together with the resources it needs to help continue growth,” said Bradley. “I’m excited to partner with industry leaders like Michael and LLR to build on what we have today, enabling more companies and their employees to effectively manage their benefits.”