BenefitsLink
Retirement Plans
Newsletter
March 10, 2009
Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost
aspects of plan operation, design and policy.
ASPPA (Adv.)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Make an appointment for yourself March 22-24 to attend The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT. Join the experts in San Diego and attend sessions that will highlight:
- Strategic Prospecting and Marketing
- Best Practices for Growing Your Business
- How Today?s Trends will Shape Your Future
- News from Capitol Hill ? The First 60 Days
- Pending Legislation including Fee Disclosure
- Servicing Your Clients in a New Market Environment
[Guidance Overview]
From PBGC: Practitioner Filing Reminders
Excerpt: "Practitioner Filing Reminders Now Available: In response to customer requests, PBGC can now send automatic e-mails to help practitioners remember filing deadlines. To sign up for one or more PBGC filing reminder(s), visit the Practitioner Filing Reminders Web page, click on the month(s) that you would like to receive a reminder and enter your e-mail address. PBGC will send a filing reminder to your e-mail address by the third workday of each month you select." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
[Guidance Overview]
Attorney Discussion of Effect Kennedy Decision Might Have on Drafting of Plan Documents (PDF)
Excerpt: "In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent adoption of the ''plan documents'' rule, plan administrators and sponsors should draft explicit plan language addressing whether they will honor extrinsic waivers of benefits contained in divorce decrees, an attorney discussing the implications of the case said March 4 in an audioconference sponsored by the American Law Institute-American Bar Association." (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. via Keightley & Ashner LLP)
[Official Guidance]
Text of Taylor v. United Technologies Case Dismissal, March 3, 2009 (PDF)
28 pages. Excerpt: "Plaintiffs David Taylor, Jim Conlin and Karl Todd, individually and on behalf of all similarly-situated persons, have filed this action pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ('ERISA'). Specifically, plaintiffs allege that defendants United Technologies Corporation ('UTC'), its Pension and Investment Committee ('PAIC'), and its Pension Administration Committee ('PAC') breached their fiduciary duties pursuant to ERISA with regard to an employee benefit plan." (U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, via The Spark Institute)
[Guidance Overview]
DOL Issues - But Might Delay, Change or Withdraw - Final Regulations on Providing Investment Advice to Plan Participants
Excerpt: "The final regulations provide general guidance on the statutory exemption's requirements, including computer model certification. The regulations include an optional model form that fiduciary advisers may use to satisfy the exemption's fee disclosure requirement. In addition, the regulations cover the requirements concerning authorization by a plan fiduciary, annual audit, disclosure and maintenance of records. There is also a class exemption establishing alternative conditions for granting prohibited transaction relief." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
[Guidance Overview]
Relief from Minimum Required Distribution from Retirement Plans and IRAs
Excerpt: "This advisory provides an overview of the tax relief [provided] for both employers and retirees, and includes steps they can take to ensure they make the best use of this opportunity." (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)
[Guidance Overview]
IRS Final Rules Implement QACA Safe Harbor and Clarify Permissible Withdrawals Under EACAs
Excerpt: "The IRS has issued final regulations that will afford sponsors of 401(k) plans flexibility in implementing qualified automatic contribution arrangements. The final rules, effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, allow for variations in the elective deferral percentage and provide for a deemed timing rule that will allow for satisfaction of the annual notice requirement. The final rules also provide guidance with respect to permissible withdrawals of default contributions under eligible automatic contribution arrangements." (Wolters Kluwer)
[Guidance Overview]
Fiduciary Liability Insurance
Excerpt: "A small investment of time and research now could pay you back in spades if you find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit or Labor Department investigation. . . . First and foremost, if you don't have a fiduciary liability policy, please review the terms of your commercial liability insurance to determine whether they exclude coverage for liabilities incurred under ERISA. If they do, an amendment or modification, usually in the form of a rider, is necessary or, better yet, obtain separate fiduciary liability coverage." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
[Guidance Overview]
Seventh Circuit: Non-Disclosure of Revenue Sharing Did Not Violate ERISA
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Litigation regarding revenue sharing is a developing area of law and other courts have allowed similar lawsuits to proceed. And, as the Seventh Circuit pointed out, although existing ERISA rules do not require disclosure of revenue sharing, the DOL has issued proposed rules that would require more extensive disclosure of fee arrangements, including revenue sharing . . . ." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview]
International Pension Plans: Selecting a Provider
Excerpt: "In this article, we consider the main issues surrounding the selection of an appropriate [international pension plan (IPP)] provider. This is based on our experience of working with multinational companies in this area and the regular surveys and research we conduct on IPP products and the provider market. Approximately one-third of participants in our recent survey operate an IPP. We have outlined below the main reasons why an IPP can be the most practical approach and, in some cases, the only solution for companies that want to provide retirement benefits to expatriates." (Mercer LLC)
[Guidance Overview]
Retirement Plan Portability Chart As of 2009: Rollover to Recipient Plan
The chart outlines the rollover rules after the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2009. (McKay Hochman Co.)
[Guidance Overview]
United Technologies Corp. Captures Strong Legal Victory in Excess Fee Case
Excerpt: "Another employer hit with a 401(k) excess fee suit has walked off with a decisive victory. Calling arguments by plaintiffs' lawyers 'unpersuasive,' a federal judge in Connecticut ruled that United Technologies Corp. (UTC) did not breach its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in connection with its plan expenses and its choice of investment options." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Task Force Will Report on New York Public Pension Practices
Excerpt: "An independent task force headed by the former Massachusetts treasurer, Shannon O'Brien, is scheduled to report on findings an investigation begun on pension investments under former Comptroller Alan Hevesi." (Newsday)
Audio and Text: PBGC Acting Director Answers Questions About PBGC Benefits and Automaker Pensions
Excerpt: "On March 7, 2009, PBGC Acting Director, Vince Snowbarger, answered questions about PBGC's insurance protections and auto-industry pensions on Detroit-area radio station WDFN-AM. Snowbarger was interviewed by Steven J. Case and William H. Kumm IV of Financial Independence LLC, sponsors of the radio program." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
DB Plan Meltdowns: Victims of Current Crisis
Excerpt: "[A] radical overhaul of the private pension system, especially the defined benefit branch, will be required if it is to be preserved as a key engine for assuring the retirement security of our workers and their families. Whatever last legs the defined benefit plan design had been balancing on after the 'perfect storm' of 2002 have been knocked out from under it with the financial collapse of 2008." (Attorney Alvin D. Lurie)
Supreme Court Takes on Investment Adviser Fee Dispute
Excerpt: "The nation's high court has agreed to consider whether the level of fees paid to investment advisers to mutual fund companies can violate the Investment Company Act. That question is at the heart of Jones v. Harris Associates, an appeal from a May 2008 ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had thrown out the lawsuit by investors in the Oakmark funds who claimed the fees of adviser Harris Associates were too high and that Harris did not disclose certain information about its pricing process. Plaintiffs in the case are Jerry N. Jones, Mary F. Jones and Arline Winerman." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Creating a Retirement Advisory Board
Excerpt: "Start today: Make a list of 15 potential board members, send out an invitation to the first 10 and then call each one personally. If the first 10 accept, your board is set. If not, move down your list. Stay focused and set a deadline for having the members of the board selected. This is very important because without a deadline, the board may never materialize. It will be the best investment of time you can make, so much so that once your retirement board is under way, you may decide to add another. It is all about having a process to serve and communicate with your key clients." (Investment News; free registration required)
[Opinion]
The Case for a Single Vendor Approach in Higher Education 403(b) Plans
Excerpt: "With all of the confusion, complexity, and costs that will have to be absorbed by sponsors with multi vendor plans due to 403(b) regulation changes, there is a very strong argument for moving to a single provider model for higher education plans. However, the argument has mostly been made in discussions about new plan limit and monitoring requirements, and not much has been mentioned regarding requirements to perform plan audits and 5500 filings for plan years beginning after December 31, 2008. Bringing some insight and clarity on the issues surrounding 5500 filings and plan audits can only add support to why reducing the number of plan vendors (ideally to a single vendor) makes sense." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
[Opinion]
American Benefits Council Comment Letter on Final Investment Advice Regulations (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "The American Benefits Council (Council) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the final regulations and class exemption that the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published on January 21, 2009, which covers the provision of investment advice to participants in individual account plans and IRA owners under the statutory exception to the prohibited transaction rules added in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA)." (American Benefits Council)
SunGard (Sponsor)
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
Form 5500 must be electronically filed, beginning January 2010. Modifying your existing procedures and routines and helping your clients understand how to collaborate with you electronically are essential to meet the new requirements of the EFAST2 system. SunGard?s Relius Government Forms 5500 Web Client provides you and your clients an efficient and easy way to gather all necessary information and electronically file 5500 forms and schedules. Contact John Latson at 800-326-7235, ext. 1100.
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Official Guidance]
List of Expiring Federal Tax Provisions 2008-2020 (PDF)
42 pages. Excerpt: "This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a listing of Federal tax provisions (other than those providing time-limited transition relief after the repeal of an underlying rule) that are currently scheduled to expire in 2008-2020 (with references to the applicable section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or other applicable law). Expiring Federal tax provisions providing temporary disaster relief are separately listed in Part II of the document. [The document can be searched by key word.]" (U.S. House of Representatives Joint Committee on Taxation)
Top-Exec Pay Train Runs Full Steam Ahead
Excerpt: "Companies that sank into the red last year are looking past a host of business expenses, ranging from asset write-downs to higher-than-expected operating costs, to rationalize paying brass even more than they got in flush times." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Buck Consultants' Survey on Equity Compensation (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "A concern among compensation professionals and compensation committees in today's economic climate is how to address changes in stock price for purposes of 2009 stock grants. Buck surveyed companies on how they are addressing these issues. A total of 73 companies, 90% of which are publicly-traded, responded." (Buck Consultants)
Equity Compensation Actions for 2009
Excerpt: "[G]overnments are imposing restrictions on executive remuneration at financial institutions that benefit from rescue efforts, and these constraints may be a harbinger of future regulation of executive remuneration programs, particularly in the US and Europe. Shareholders are seizing the moment as well. They are calling for constraints on a range of executive pay and severance arrangements, continuing their demands for pay for results and decrying pay for failure. This environment has significant implications for executive rewards and talent strategies for the next several years, as well as pay actions for the short term." (Mercer LLC)
[Opinion]
American Benefits Council Comment Letter on Proposed 409A Regulations (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The Proposed Regulations interpret the statutory provisions of Code section 409A(a), which imposes early inclusion upon vesting, a 20-percent addition to tax and, in some cases, a premium interest tax with respect to deferred compensation arrangements that fail to conform to statutory requirements. The Council is most concerned about inadvertent errors that result in the imposition of tax under Code section 409A. The Council believes that there are several areas in which the Proposed Regulations may be simplified without departing from the overall statutory requirements." (American Benefits Council)
Newly Posted Events
( Post Yours! )403(b) Plan Documents Webinar
Nationwide on March 20, 2009
presented by ftwilliam.com
Group Health Plan Mandates for Rookies: The Basics on the Federal Mandates (Other Than COBRA and HIPAA)
Nationwide on March 26, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
What?s Hot and What?s Not in Motivating Employee Behavior
in Georgia on March 19, 2009
presented by WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefit Network) Atlanta Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
( Post Yours! )Letter Urges Congressional Budget Committees to Consider Cost Savings in Developing Health Care Reform Legislation
American Benefits Council
Council ?Disappointed? by Ninth Circuit Court Denial of Rehearing in San Francisco Health Care Case
American Benefits Council
CEFEX Certifies Alliance Benefit Group of Michigan
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)
Ann Schleck & Co. Introduces New Tools Including Fee Benchmarker
Ann Schleck & Co.
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
( Post a Job | View All Jobs |
RSS Feed
)Pension Consultants/Administrators
for Northern & Central NJ Mid-Size Pension Consulting Firm
in NJ
Senior Retirement Plan Analyst and Supervisor
for Mid Size New York City TPA
in NY
Account Manager
for The Standard
in OR
Defined Contribution Administrator
for McGregor & Associates, Inc.
in KY
Defined Pension Plan Payment Specialist
for NRECA/Lincoln Operations
in NE
Pension Administrator
for Prestigious mid-Long Island New York Firm
in NY
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This newsletter is sent to you each workday except federal holidays.
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2009 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: