ASPPA

Retirement Plan Administrator II
Fulton Financial Advisors (a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corporation)
in PA

Pension Administrator
Scholz, Klein & Friends Enlightened Retirement Group, Inc.
in TX

Health Care Planning Manager
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
in NY

Health & Productivity Business Analyst
National Business Group on Health
in DC

Account Manager
Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia
in GA

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Cadillac Tax Under Code ? 4980I: IRS Notice 2015-16 Fills in the Details
RECORDED
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

The Critical Difference: HIPAA Security Evaluation v HIPAA Security Risk Analysis
May 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(Clearwater Compliance)

AuditWorld 2015
May 19, 2015 in LA
(Clearwater Compliance)

The New Proposed Fiduciary Conflict of Interest Rule - How Will It Affect Financial Advisors?
May 19, 2015 in CA
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter)

PPACA & Wellness: Creating Programs That Cut Healthcare Costs and Compliance Worries
May 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(Thompson Information Services)

Fostering Workplace Culture to Support Emotional Health & Ensuring Compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Law
June 2, 2015 WEBCAST
(Midwest Business Group on Health)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2015 - Cincinnati
June 2, 2015 in OH
(SunGard Relius)

Form 5500 Workshop 2015 - Cincinnati
June 3, 2015 in OH
(SunGard Relius)

M&A Due Diligence for ERISA Attorneys: A Case Study
June 23, 2015 in IL
(ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits)

New Mortality Tables ? Their Use and Application
June 23, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries])

What You Need to Know About ERISA: A Comprehensive Overview
October 8, 2015 in NY
(Bloomberg BNA)

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Text of OPM Establishment of Charter for the Civil Service Retirement System Board of Actuaries
"The Board shall provide independent advice and recommendations on matters relating to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF), the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS).... The Board shall furnish its advice and opinion on matters referred to it by OPM, and recommend such changes as in the Board's judgment are necessary to protect the public interest and maintain the Retirement Systems on a sound financial basis and, in doing so, shall: [1] Report annually on the actuarial status of the Retirement Systems; [2] Review actuarial valuations no less often than once every five years, or more often if considered necessary by OPM; and [3] In response to an agency appeal of an amount payable for FERS under 5 U.S.C. 8423(c), and in accordance with the regulations established under 5 CFR 841 Subpart D, review the computations of OPM and recommend any adjustment with respect to any such amount which the Board determines appropriate" (Office of Personnel Management [OPM])

[Advert.]

2015 SPARK National Conference -- June 7-9, Washington DC

The retirement services industry's leading event for top marketing, sales, administration and record keeping professionals. Comprehensive agenda is designed to meet the needs of 401(k) Plan Providers, Financial Advisors and Third Party Administrators.

Text of IRS News Release 2015-74: Special Penalty Relief Available for Late Returns Filed by June 2 for Certain Small Retirement Plans (PDF)
"Launched June 2, 2014, the one-year temporary pilot program is designed to help small businesses with retirement plans that may have been unaware of the reporting requirements that apply to these plans. Normally, the plan administrators and sponsors of these plans who fail to file required annual returns, usually Form 5500-EZ, can face stiff penalties -- up to $15,000 per return. By filing late returns by June 2, eligible filers can avoid these penalties. So far, about 6,000 delinquent returns have been filed under this program." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])

Finding Lost Participants: Best Practices from the New DOL Guidance (PDF)
"The following four steps are the minimum a fiduciary must do in every situation. The plan fiduciary cannot abandon efforts to find a missing participant until all activities have been completed. Failure to follow these steps is a breach of fiduciary duty. [1] Send a notice by Certified Mail.... [2] Check related plan and employer records.... [3] Check with the participant's named beneficiary.... [4]Use free Internet search tools." (Bryan, Pendleton, Swats & McAllister, LLC)

Putting a White Label on 401(k) Investments
"White label investments are presented to 401(k) participants under a generic asset-class wrapper, with no brand names or indications of belonging to specific investment fund families. Typically, they carry only a descriptive asset-class name such as 'Large-Cap Growth Fund' or 'Small-Cap Value Fund.' In effect, some plan sponsors are de-branding their 401(k) menus." (Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM])

The Time Has Come for Standardized Total Cost Disclosure for Private Equity (PDF)
"Given the level of detail and timing of private equity manager reports, can pension funds disclose investment costs in a consistent manner across the industry? What would full cost disclosure require of a pension fund? ... South Carolina's [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)] generated some negative press coverage that alleged their investment costs were unjustifiably high. However ... [the authors] conclude that they are simply reporting more costs than other funds rather than incurring more costs.... Less than one-half of the very substantial PE costs incurred by U.S. pension funds are currently being disclosed." (CEM Benchmarking)

SEC Answers Money Market Reform Questions
"The 15-page release answers 53 questions on various topics ... [1] Retail money market fund[s] ... [2] Government money market fund[s] ... [3] Capital support ... [4] Disclosure ... [5] Amortized cost ... [6] Fee and gate questions ... [7] Transitions/reorganizations ... [8] Board valuation monitoring." (Drinker Biddle)

Promoting Lifetime Plan Participation (PDF)
"The DOL's ERISA Advisory Council ... recently issued a report whose underlying thesis is that participants would be better served if they consolidated all of their retirement assets in a single employer-sponsored plan, regardless of whether or not they remain employed by that plan's sponsor. The report suggests plan design features that can be implemented by plan sponsors and administrative actions recommended for adoption by the DOL that would facilitate so-called 'Lifetime Plan Participation.' ... Addressing plan leakage ... Consolidating plan assets ... Recommended agency action." (Marcia S. Wagner, Esq., via 401[k] Advisor)

RBC Capital Markets Identifies Ideal Candidates for Pension Risk Transfers
"RBC Capital Markets ... identified 210 companies with $853 billion in projected benefit obligations [PBO] that could be good candidates for pension risk transfer.... Of that total, RBC names 29 'ideal' U.S. corporate pension plan candidates with combined projected benefit obligations of $160 million for pension buyouts.... The most ideal candidate, according to RBC, is CenturyLink Inc., Monroe, La., whose PBO of $15.042 billion is 76% of the company's market capitalization. The company's funding ratio is 84%." (Pensions & Investments)

What is Intergenerational Equity?
"As a practical matter, the only way that [a] future pension benefit can be 'paid currently' is by currently funding it, e.g., by making a contribution to a trust equal to the present value of that future pension benefit.... That fact presents the possibility (not an issue with respect to cash wages or most other fringe benefits, such as health insurance premiums for current workers) that a future generation can be made to pay. And that possibility raises a question of intergenerational equity: Is it equitable that a future generation should pay for the current generation's pension cost?" (The Terry Group)

Oregon Supreme Court: Retiree Cuts Are Unconstitutional
"In a unanimous decision, Oregon Chief Justice Thomas A. Balmer wrote ... that retired public-sector workers 'have a contractual right to receive' the annual increases to their pension checks. The court decision restores a typically 2% yearly bump for more than 120,000 Oregon public-sector retirees." [ Moro v. State of Oregon , 357 Or 167 (Apr. 30, 2015)] (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)

Text of IRS Chief Counsel Memo 201518013: Correction of a Failure to Comply with Section 409A (PDF)
"Issue: Does the correction of a failure to comply with section 409A(a) of the Internal Revenue Code applicable only to compensation subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture avoid income inclusion under section 409A if the correction is made before the compensation vests but during the service provider's taxable year in which it vests? Conclusion: No.... The correction of a failure to comply with section 409A(a) during a taxable year indicates that a failure existed during the taxable year in which the correction is made. In accordance with section 409A(a)(1)(A)(i), a failure applicable to deferred compensation subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture that lapses during the taxable year results in income inclusion of the deferred amount under section 409A, regardless of whether the failure is corrected during the same taxable year but before the substantial risk of forfeiture lapses." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])

EBSA Announcement: Notice of Temporary Relocation of Public Disclosure Room
"Renovation of [EBSA's] Public Disclosure Room (PDR) will necessitate a temporary relocation and suspension of operations for a total of up to six [6] business days. The renovation will begin on or after May 11 and is expected to last four to six weeks. The PDR will be closed up to three [3] business days prior to moving to the temporary location and up to three [3] business days after the renovation.... While the PDR is at this temporary location, the telephone number will remain (202) 693-8673, and the hours of operation will temporarily change to 8:00am-4:00pm Monday through Friday." (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])

2015 Trends and Developments in Executive Compensation
"A majority of companies (57%) indicated that they recently evaluated the relationship between pay and performance. In doing so, most companies studied the relationship over at least a three-year period.... Nearly three-quarters of companies indicated they engaged with their institutional shareholders in preparation for their 2015 Say on Pay vote.... Approximately 60% of companies responded that 2015 long-term incentive (LTI) grant values are about the same as 2014; only 6% of companies indicated that grant values decreased year over year." (Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC)

Should Company Officers Run Retirement and Other Benefit Plans?
"[L]itigation teaches that it isn't so much the question of whether directors should ever be a plan fiduciary -- accidentally or deliberately -- that is important, but rather the act of thinking logically in advance about who best in a company should have what roles with regard to a plan. Doing the latter not only protects against unanticipated litigation exposures, but also decreases the likelihood of litigation by increasing the probability that the plan will be in the hands of the executives best placed to run it well." (Stephen Rosenberg, The Wagner Law Group)

ICMA-RC Appoints Angela Montez as Senior Vice President and General Counsel ICMA-RC

Transamerica?s Investments and Retirement Division Announces New Senior Management Appointments Transamerica Retirement Solutions

US Labor Department Sues Owner of Former Company in Emeryville, California, to Restore More than $43,000 to 401(k) Plan Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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