ASPPA

Relationship Manager
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Relationship Manager
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Relationship Manager
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Legal Counsel - ERISA - Pre-Approved Plans
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Webinar Series I
February 4, 2014 WEBCAST
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS))

Business Structures ? With an Emphasis on Partnerships and Partnership Plans
February 6, 2014 WEBCAST
(ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries))

Fiduciary Standards and DOL Update
February 11, 2014 in FL
(ASPPA Benefits Council of Central Florida)

2014 Quarter Update eSeminar
February 12, 2014 WEBCAST
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Healthcare Reform: 2014 and Beyond
February 20, 2014 in NY
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) New York)

Cross-Test My Plan and Hope to Pass
February 25, 2014 in OH
(ASPPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati)

Interaction of the Affordable Care Act with Other Laws
March 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(Lorman Education Services)

NTSA 403b Summit
June 22, 2014 in DC
(National Tax-Deferred Savings Association (NTSA))

View All Webcasts and Conferences

Text of Proposed PBGC Regs Relaxing Reporting of Mergers by Multiemployer Plans, Reducing Valuation Frequency for Certain Smaller Multiemployer Plans
"PBGC is proposing to amend its multiemployer regulations to make the provision of information to PBGC and plan participants more efficient and effective and to reduce burden on plans and sponsors. The amendments would reduce the number of actuarial valuations required for certain small terminated but not insolvent plans, shorten the advance notice filing requirements for mergers in situations that do not involve a compliance determination, and remove certain insolvency notice and update requirements. The amendments are a result of PBGC's regulatory review[.]" (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

[Advert.]

ftwilliam.com's New! Plan Document Software Webinar

Join us on February 20 and learn about the new features that will help you streamline PPA Restatements. Document preparation and restatement don't have to be painful. We've come up with all of the tools and delivery methods to make your life easier.

EBSA and SEC Reach Combined $21M in Settlements with Western Asset Management
"[I]nvestigations ... revealed the purchase of prohibited securities that resulted in losses to the accounts of nearly 100 employee benefit plans and investment funds holding plan assets. The settlement also resolves findings that the company engaged in prohibited cross-trading of securities in the accounts of other retirement plans and funds, which caused additional losses.... The settlement and related SEC charges require Western Asset to restore a total of more than $17.4 million to employee benefit plans and other accounts and require the company to pay more than $3.6 million in penalties." (U.S. Department of Labor)

SEC Charges Legg Mason Affiliate With Defrauding Clients
"According to an SEC order ... Western Asset breached its fiduciary duty by failing to disclose and promptly correct a coding error that caused the improper allocation of a restricted private investment to the accounts of nearly 100 ERISA clients. The private investment that was off-limits to ERISA plans had plummeted in value by the time the coding error was discovered, and Western Asset had an obligation to reimburse clients for such losses under the terms of its error correction policy. Instead, Western Asset failed to notify its ERISA clients until nearly two years later, long after the firm had liquidated the prohibited securities out of those client accounts." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

GASB 67/68: Beginning Implementation and Overview by Public Pension Plans (PDF)
"The new GASB statements require a liability for pension obligations, known as the net pension liability (NPL), to be recognized on the balance sheets of the plan and participating employers. Similarly, a pension expense (PE) will be recognized on the income statement. These measures will be wholly unsuitable for measuring the funding of the plan, and GASB in fact intended them to be so." (Milliman)

Higher Interest Rates Offer Strategies for DB Plan Sponsors (PDF)
"There are two possible strategies that sponsors of defined benefit plans may want to consider to reduce plan costs and risks. The first is to offer a lump sum window to terminated vested participants. The second is to use institutional annuity products to reduce and/or eliminate pension risks, known as 'pension risk transfer.' The attraction of both strategies is that they allow a plan sponsor to settle some plan liabilities rather than waiting until there are sufficient assets in the plan to settle all liabilities. In addition to eliminating the volatility of the pension obligation for a certain group of participants, these strategies can also eliminate the administrative cost and [PBGC] premiums for the targeted group." (McCready and Keene, Inc.)

[Advert.]

Securing Brighter Futures with New Opportunities in QDIAs - Feb. 24-25, Boston

Hear directly from plan sponsors, advisors and industry leaders on the latest trends in default investment alternatives -- managed accounts, target-date, balanced funds, target-risk, and stable value. Mention FMP164 during registration for 10% discount.

Fiduciary Considerations in Controlling and Accounting for Plan Administration Fees (PDF)
"This paper narrowly focuses on the fiduciary considerations regarding the treatment of plan expenses under an individual account-based, self-directed defined contribution retirement plan ... The hide and seek nature of revenue generated by asset managers (e.g. mutual funds) under a proprietary or affiliated bundled service arrangement or under an open-architecture alphabet soup share class approach purposely or inadvertently confuses the fiduciary. It is truly a financial game of Whack-A-Mole." (Chao & Company, Ltd.)

Morningstar's 401(k) Week
"[H]ow do we make [the 401(k) system] work? What role can employers play? And how can we, as employees and as savers, also become the good investors we need to be to ensure a comfortable, well-funded retirement? This week, we aim to help you stack the deck for success in your 401(k) plan. We'll cover the basic rules and tax advantages of the investment wrapper, how to allocate your 401(k), and what to do with your assets once you enter retirement. We'll also look at the viability of the 401(k) itself in a special roundtable discussion on Friday." (Morningstar)

'Bad News Bonds' Could Increase 401(k) Fiduciary Liability
"Last week State Street Global Advisors released the results of their Biannual DC Investor Survey. In part, the results confirm the results of earlier surveys that showed 401k investors are over-weighted in bonds.... Worse, finds SSGA, investors seemed to have a fundamental misunderstanding regarding the nature, risk and safety of bonds." (Fiduciary News)

Senate Panel to Examine Military Pension Cut
"The panel will examine recent changes to the military retirement system. Working-age military retirees took a hit with the budget deal President Obama signed last month, as the legislation reduced their cost-of-living allowances by 1 percent starting in December 2015 -- a higher rate would apply once those individuals reach age 62. The provision will not affect disabled retirees, due to an amendment tacked onto the $1.1 trillion spending bill enacted this month." (The Washington Post; subscription may be required)

SEC to Examine if Advisers Are Misleading on IRA Rollovers
"The so-called National Exam Program also will look at broker-dealers and investment advisers for 'possible improper or misleading' conduct with regard to several potential problem areas in their dealings with clients rolling over assets from an employer-sponsored retirement plan to an IRA: marketing and advertising; conflicts of interest; suitability of investment products to clients; churning; and the use of potentially misleading professional designations. Regarding advisers, OCIE said it would look at the sales practices of those 'targeting' retirement-age workers to urge them to roll over their employer-sponsored 401(k) plans into higher-cost investments." (Thompson SmartHR Manager)

How Much, If Anything, Should You Invest in Your 401(k)?
"One of the first major capital-allocation decisions confronting many investors is how much to steer toward their 401(k)s (or 403(b)s or 457s, depending on their type of employer). The vehicle carries many advantages ... [yet] maxing out a 401(k) isn't necessarily the best use of everyone's cash. The decision about whether to do so depends on your own personal choice set. Answering the following questions, in roughly the same sequence, can help you arrive at the right solution." (Morningstar)

How Does Your 401(k) Plan Stack Up?
"The vast majority of 401(k) plans (83%) offer an employer match, but only 46% of employers match employee contributions immediately, while 30% require one year of service before matching. The average employer match in 401(k)-only plans is 2.7% of the employee's salary, which represents a rebound from a recent low of 2.1% in 2009, during the recession, though not yet a full rebound to 2008's level of 2.9%. Combined 401(k)-profit sharing plans tend to have much higher employer matches, averaging 5.4% of pay." (Morningstar)

Text of Solicitor General's Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs Alleging Fiduciary Breach by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (PDF)
"The district court's decision ignores the important fact that John Hancock not only retained the right to substitute or delete the funds available to the Plans, but regularly monitored the Plans and could, and on occasion did, unilaterally substitute fund and share classes at its discretion. Likewise, the decision ignores plausible allegations that, despite this authority, John Hancock failed to exercise this authority to eliminate funds when it would have been prudent to do so." [Santomenno v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company, No. 13-3467 (3rd Cir. filed Jan. 21, 2014)] (U.S. Department of Labor)

The Argument for Mandatory 401(k) Participation
"If 401(k) investors are best served by paternalism ... then why not follow that logic to its conclusion? Stop with the nudge, and move to insistence. With defined-benefit plans being phased out of existence, and most people unable to fund their retirements in another fashion, the American retirement system has but two legs: Social Security and 401(k) accounts. To leave the latter at an employee's whim seems irresponsible." (Morningstar)

Benefits Litigation Update, Winter 2014 (PDF)
Articles include: [1] Will Section 510 of ERISA Restrict Workforce Structuring under the Affordable Care Act? [2] A New Threat to Sponsors and Fiduciaries: Equitable Remedies After Amara Presumption Revisited; [3] First ERISA Decision From Supreme Court This Term Strongly Endorses Plan-Created Limitations Periods For Benefit Claims; and[4] Class Action Fee Litigation Continues to Plague Plan Sponsors. (Epstein Becker Green)

Text of District Court Opinion Finding SPD's Language Enforceable Despite Amara
"Amara does not support the broad proposition urged by the Estate, i.e. that an SPD can never serve as an ERISA plan document. As recently as May, 2011, notably in a decision rendered just two days after Amara, the Sixth Circuit recognized that where there is no formal ERISA plan separate and apart from the SPD, the SPD is the relevant plan document ... Amara does nothing to change the analysis and conclusion in this case. At the heart of Amara is the requirement that there be a conflict between the language of the SPD and the controlling plan document before the terms of the SPD can be ignored or overriden." [L&W Associates Welfare Benefit Plan v. Estate of Terance R. Wines, No. 12-cv-13524 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 13, 2014)] (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan)

David Booth, Chairman and Co-CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors to Chair PSCA Investment Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA)

ING U.S. Chosen as the Exclusive Service Provider for the Regional University System of Oklahoma ING U.S.

DOL and Securities and Exchange Commission Reach Combined $21M in Settlements with Western Asset Management Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. Department of Labor

BLAZE SSI Announces New Website BLAZE SSI Corp.

Wabash Capital Is Certified For Fiduciary Excellence Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX)

Milliman Enhances Mobile Apps For Retirement Plan Participants, Incorporates Behavioral Finance Principles Milliman

WorldatWork?s Alliance for Work-Life Progress Announces 2014 Innovative Excellence Award Winners WorldatWork

As Healthcare Changes Unfold, Employers Are Offered CareOptions ? A Valuable New Tool to Help Inform, Educate and Engage Employees NavGate Technologies

View All Press Releases