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Verisight
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Verisight
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The Ryding Company
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Primark Benefits
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Heartland Financial USA
in AZ, CA, CO, KS, NM, TX

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AIG
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Pension Inc.
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ESOPs: Preparing Your Employees for Retirement
October 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO])

ACA Coverage and Reporting Rules for Employees In Hawaii
October 14, 2015 WEBCAST
(Littler Mendelson)

ERISA Workshop
October 29, 2015 in MI
(SunGard Relius)

Advanced Plan Design Workshop
October 30, 2015 in MI
(SunGard Relius)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

Text of Disaster Relief Relating to PBGC Deadlines in Response to Valley and Butte Fires in California
"This Disaster Relief Announcement provides relief relating to PBGC deadlines ... [to] any person responsible for meeting a PBGC deadline ... that is located in the disaster area for which the [IRS] has provided relief in SAC-2015-06 , September 23, 2015, in connection with filing extensions for Form 5500 series returns, or [who] cannot reasonably obtain information or other assistance needed to meet the deadline from a service provider, bank, or other person whose operations are directly affected by the Valley and Butte Fires that began on September 12, 2015, in California." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC])

[Advert.]

SPARK Forum - November 8-10, 2015 -- The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

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

IRS Employee Plans News No. 2015-10, September 30, 2015
Includes links to recent IRS guidance and information about developments and upcoming deadlines, including: Form 5500 automatic extension to file for 2016 and later plan years; procedures for requesting waiver of electronic filing of Form 8955-SSA and 5500EZ; a link to an IRS overview of 403(b) correction procedures; regs on minimum required contributions for single-employer defined benefit plans under Section 430; and regs for multiemployer plan participant votes on suspension of benefits. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])

Text of District Court Opinion: Effect of DB Wear-Away Provision Was Not Adequately Disclosed; Cash Balance Plan Must Be Reformed to Provide Increased Benefits (PDF)
83 pages. "Both parties have compared this case to Amara v. CIGNA Corp.... This case presents a more egregious set of circumstances than Amara. In Amara, wear-away resulted, in large part, from fluctuations in interest rates; here, by contrast, the structure of plan conversion guaranteed that most Participants would experience severe wear-away and that this was the expected source of cost savings to Foot Locker.... Even employees directly involved in pension benefits calculations did not understand the concept of wear-away or that their accruals were effectively frozen for a period of time after the Plan conversion.... To remedy Foot Locker's misrepresentations, the Plan must be reformed to actually provide the A plus B benefit that the misrepresentations inequitably caused Class members to reasonably expect. " [Osberg v. Foot Locker, Inc., No. 07-cv-01358 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2015)] (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York)

Federal District Court Addresses Measure of Damages in ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Case
"[The District Court] held that the proper measure of damages against a breaching ERISA fiduciary is the most profitable of otherwise equally plausible alternative investment strategies, where the breaching fiduciaries could not meet their burden to rebut that amount.... [T]he court awarded the plaintiffs $9.6 million, which was inclusive of the $4.7 million diminution in value and the lost earnings. It also awarded disgorgement of the defendants' management fees, and pre-judgment interest from 2009 at the New York rate of 9%." [ Severstal Wheeling, Inc. v. WPN Corp. , No. 10CV954 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 10, 2015)] (Goodwin Procter)

More Withdrawal Liability for Unsuspecting Business Owners
"In other successor employer situations, the courts have noted that a buyer who is being tagged with successor liability could protect itself by indemnification or through a reduction in the purchase price.... [In] this case, the owner of the new business had no such opportunity.... On the other hand, the court noted that certain documents in the case were filed under seal, including the business plan of the new business.... It could be that there was some evidence of coordination or collusion between the old business and new business that would otherwise justify the decision." [ Resilient Floor Covering Pension Trust Fund Bd. of Trustees v. Michael's Floor Covering, Inc. , No. 12-17675 (9th Cir. Sept. 11, 2015) (Stinson Leonard Street)

Asset Purchasers Face Increased Exposure for the Multiemployer Pension Debts of Sellers
"[T]he Court gave no consideration to the seeming lack of an asset purchase agreement between the parties.... Second, the predecessor probably never would have been assessed any withdrawal liability but for the alleged successor's actions to start his own company.... [This case] represents a disturbing expansion of the successor liability doctrine to both create withdrawal liability (by imputing the purchaser's actions to the asset seller) and also to hold the purchaser liable for the withdrawal liability created as a successor." [ Resilient Floor Covering Pension Trust Fund Bd. of Trustees v. Michael's Floor Covering, Inc. (9th Cir. Sept. 11, 2015)] (Jackson Lewis P.C.)

Rising Interest Rates Will Offset Longer Pension Plan Participant Life Expectancy
"The next hurdle will be what happens when the IRS mandates a new [mortality] table for ERISA calculations and 417(e) minimum lump sum amounts.... Based on what is currently published, it is anticipated that lump sums could increase anywhere from 2.5% to 4.0%. The hope is that interest rates will improve by 2017 and offset this increase.... [P]lan sponsors should remember that lump sums will still cost more in 2017 than they would have without the update to the mortality tables." (Findley Davies)

Automatic Savings Increase Tool Enhances 401(k) Plan
"The voluntary automatic savings increase tool was not expected to have a major impact. Instead, it was considered something useful to help chip away at the lost 11.5% of annual DB benefits... [T]he average expected total increase in the savings rate for the 35 participants who elected auto-increase is 5.9%, which will roughly double the current average savings rate for this group. This increase, combined with the expanded profit-sharing contribution, is projected to close the 11.5% gap for many employees." (Milliman Retirement Town Hall)

Ex-Trustee in Detroit Pension Scandal Gets 57 Months in Prison
"Ex-Detroit pension trustee Paul Stewart is going to prison for nearly five years for his role in a bribery and kickback scheme that cost city pensioners and police officers $47 million in losses while the businessmen he catered to made off with $5.2 million. Stewart... [told] the judge that he never meant to hurt the pensioners, police or the City of Detroit, where he once worked as a police officer for 33 years. He started his brief speech by first apologizing to the 13,000 pensioners, employees and beneficiaries, then his family and the city of Detroit." (Detroit Free Press)

Evaluating the Impact of Social Security Benefits on Health Outcomes Among the Elderly
"Higher Social Security benefits due to amendments to the Social Security Act in the 1970s led to significant improvements in elderly health outcomes.... [H]igher Social Security income led to significant decreases in depressive symptoms but only in the case of households whose primary Social Security beneficiary had less than a high school education.... [These] findings suggest that cuts to Social Security benefits could potentially have significant negative impacts on the functional limitations and cognitive function of older adults, while increases in benefits could lead to improvements in health outcomes." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

What Can I Possibly Learn About Retirement from a French 16-Year Old? (PDF)
12 pages. "[W]ithout assistance, in a culture of conspicuous consumption and easy consumer debt, most U.S. workers will simply not save enough to achieve retirement success unless we change our ways.... A massive wave of new entrants to the Retirement Advisor profession would solve the coverage gap and enhance the retirement savings rate. Such a wave would be beneficial because it would help more people understand the importance of a retirement plan" (EACH Enterprise, LLC)

Statement of ICI to House Oversight Subcommittee on DOL Proposed Fiduciary Rule (PDF)
51 pages. "We expect the [DOL's] proposed fiduciary rule, if adopted, will make retirement savings more challenging and costly for retirement savers, particularly those with modest balances.... The Best Interest Contract (BIC) Exemption cannot be implemented as drafted.... Claims that retirement savers currently are suffering $17 billion a year in harm are just wrong.... The Department's claims that broker-sold funds 'underperform' are not supported by the very academic studies on which it relies.... Any assessment of proposals intended to increase coverage must be based on an understanding of the reasons some employers do not offer retirement plans to their workers, and should not be based on snapshots of coverage rates or misleading coverage statistics.... State-administered retirement plan proposals raise substantial questions and merit close scrutiny." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])

The Facts About Pension Advances
"Businesses marketing pension advances attempt to avoid state and federal regulation by claiming that pension advances are not loans. However, regulators are beginning to examine the practice to determine if it violates disclosure and interest rate laws. Missouri and Vermont have passed legislation to regulate the marketing and sale of pension advances. Other states are considering similar legislation." (Pension Rights Center)

Negative Returns: How State Pensions Shortchange Teachers
"Most teachers who retire with 30 or more years of service receive large pensions. However, teachers who complete fewer years of service and enter the classroom at relatively young ages usually receive much smaller pensions. This study finds that in half of states, at least 77 percent of teachers separate from their plan with a pension that is worth less than the value of their mandatory plan contributions. These teachers would have received more retirement benefits if they could have opted out of their retirement plan and invested their retirement contributions on their own." (Urban Institute)

Text of Amicus Brief by American Benefits Council Urging Supreme Court Review of Statute of Limitations Applicable for Fiduciary Breach Claim Based on Fraud (PDF)
"Under the rule handed down in this case, ERISA plans can now be sued for an isolated statement that may or may not have been made by a representative of the plan or employer in the distant past.... Given that many misrepresentation claims are brought in the form of class actions or with multiple plaintiffs, the Tenth Circuit's decision will dramatically increase the potential liability of ERISA plans and could ultimately discourage employers from offering benefit plans in the first place." [ Fulghum v. Embarq Corp. , No. 13-3230 (10th Cir. Apr. 27, 2015; cert. pet. filed Aug. 25, 2015)] (American Benefits Council)

Department of Labor Fiduciary Standard Proposal: A Concern For Insurance Companies A.M. Best Company

MassMutual and Envestnet Introduce Managed Accounts for 401(k)s and Other Retirement Savings Plans MassMutual

BrightScope Reveals the Top 10 Target Date Series BrightScope

Devenir Launches HSA Guided Portfolio Devenir

State Treasurer Names New Director for Oregon Retirement Savings Plan MyCentralOregon.com

AXA?s Nick Lane Elected Chairman of the IRI Board of Directors Insured Retirement Institute [IRI]

Fulcrum Partners LLC. Expands Executive Benefits Consulting with Microsites Fulcrum Partners LLC.

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