ESOP Administrator
Blue Ridge ESOP Associates
in VA, Telecommute

Sales Consultant for plan administration software
Ftwilliam.com - Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory
Telecommute

Director, Pension Action Center
University of Massachusetts Boston
in MA

Retirement Plan Consultant - Advisory Services
RTD Financial Advisors, Inc.
in NJ

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A Deep Dive into new Section 199A
April 19, 2018 in CA
Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter

Pension Plan Investments 2018: Current Perspectives
May 15, 2018 WEBCAST
Practising Law Institute

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2017 Instructions for IRS Form 8915B: Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments (PDF)
"Use Form 8915B if you were adversely affected by a 2017 disaster listed in Qualified 2017 Disaster Distribution Requirements ... and you received a distribution that qualifies for favorable tax treatment."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Brush up on RMDs and Distributions!

The rules regarding Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and Plan Distributions can be confusing and complicated. Join us to learn how to make RMDs and Plan distributions as simple as possible. Register Now!

Fifth Circuit Vacates DOL Fiduciary Rule
"Over the course of more than forty pages, the majority decision recounted the history of ERISA's definition of fiduciary and concluded that the Department's expansion of the definition reflected a policy decision that was beyond the Department's authority. In so holding, the Court explained that expansion of service providers' obligations under the law and individuals' ability to enforce the law in court requires an act of Congress rather than an unelected agency of the Executive branch." [ Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. DOL , No. 17-10238 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2018)]
Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center

Fiduciary Rule Status in Doubt Following Conflicting Courts of Appeals Decisions
"While the Tenth and Fifth Circuit opinions create a circuit split inviting resolution by the Supreme Court, either decision could be reviewed en banc by their respective full courts. Contrary decisions in either case could cause the split to resolve itself before ever reaching the high court."
Kilpatrick Townsend

Spokesman Says DOL Won't Enforce the Fiduciary Rule
"The Labor Department won't be enforcing the fiduciary rule -- at least for now -- after a federal appeals court in Louisiana vacated the rule, a department spokesman told Bloomberg Law March 16.... It's helpful to the industry that the DOL is acknowledging that it covers the whole rule and has a nationwide impact, Kevin Walsh, an attorney with Groom Law Group [said] ... It would also be helpful for the DOL to make clear that the rule is off the books and other parties can't enforce it, Walsh added."
Bloomberg BNA

Evaluating Average DC Plan Fees
"Not surprisingly, asset levels markedly influenced total investment management fees paid. Mega plans have driven down their fees to an average of 33 basis points, as a result of their scale and ability to invest in institutionally structured vehicles, while smaller plans pay progressively more."
Callan

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Cost-Cutting Takes Precedence in Competitive Environment
"Putnam's launch of a lower-cost share class is just one approach target-date managers have taken to reduce fees. For certain active target-date series, American Century and Fidelity switched in 2017 to a direct management fee model that charges a flat fee, from the traditional indirect fee model where target-date funds' net expense ratios are determined by underlying fund fees. Plan executives stand to benefit from the direct management model when managers make underlying fund changes[.]"
Pensions & Investments

401(k) Education Best Practices
"Correct the misperceptions ... Integrate financial wellness concepts ... Stick with education, not counseling ... Include behavioral finance/economics elements ... Incorporate retirement readiness concepts ... Develop an Employee Education Policy Statement ... Talk about loans and withdrawals ... Discuss your company match ... Require attendance ... Allow almost anyone to attend ... Offer one-on-one meetings."
Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants

A Pension Plan Sponsor's Readiness Guide to Plan Termination (PDF)
"Be informed about financial impact ... Is additional cash needed? ... Determine the period over which to fund the shortfall.... Is borrowing to fund the plan feasible or desirable? ... Financial statement impact/settlement cost can be significant.... Determine the investment strategy."
Findley Davies | BPS&M

What You Need to Know About ESOP Valuation Season
"Impact of First Bankers Trust settlement on fiduciary responsibility... Selection and use of valuation advisor ... Conflicts of interest.... Oversight of valuation advisor ... Financial statements.... Fiduciary review process ... Documentation of valuation analysis.... Reliance on valuation report.... Preservation of Documents.... Fair market value.... Control.... Consideration of claw back."
McDonald Hopkins

For over 20 years, we've helped employers find the best-informed candidates to fill their benefits job openings -- learn more!

RESA's Return May Be Departing Senator Hatch's Gift to Retirement Readiness
"Many of RESA's provisions are intended to make it less complicated and less expensive to establish a plan and to reduce fiduciary exposure for employers establishing a retirement plan.... RESA includes provisions intended to lead to greater saving by retirement plan participants.... Some provisions would affect participants or beneficiaries of both employer plans and IRAs, or would in some manner connect an employer plan and an IRA."
Ascensus

'Missing' Inaction
"[P]lan sponsors often feel trapped ... pressed hard on the one hand by regulators to locate these former participants (and potential beneficiaries) -- on another by state agencies with an avid interest in the escheatment of those funds -- and often squeezed by the growing costs not only of trying to locate these participants, but the costs of distributing a wide assortment of plan notices, not to mention the ongoing costs of maintaining these accounts in potential perpetuity.... [W]hat's 'missing' is ... some safe harbor guidance that would provide some comfort and structure to those trying to reasonably fulfill their duties as plan fiduciaries[.]"
Data 'Points'

How the Financial Product Distribution Industry Beat the DOL Fiduciary Rule
"[D]espite their ongoing transition into the business of financial advice, the financial product distribution industry and its representative associations ... have now prevailed in their 5th Circuit Appeal against the DOL's fiduciary rule, by successfully arguing that, notwithstanding their advertising and the titles on their business cards, their brokers and annuity agents are not advisors at all, but mere salespeople who do not have a relationship of trust and confidence with their clients, for which their (commission-based) compensation is not in any way payment for the delivery of advice but merely for effecting a product sale. Even as they continued to lament to the public and the media that the DOL's fiduciary rule would restrict their ability to give advice to consumers (the very advice relationship they explicitly denied providing to clients in their own court briefs!)."
Nerd's Eye View

'Substantial and Recurring' Contributions to a Profit Sharing Plan
Recently the IRS flagged one of our plans for this issue on audit. They want to take it into CAP and claim it's a qualification issue. The only issue I see is that participants would need to be vested. If there is only one participant, what is the legal issue that could force the plan into CAP?
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Jason Crane Joins Ascensus? Retirement Unit as Head of Retirement Sales Ascensus

First Eagle Investment Management Partners with Boston College?s Center for Retirement Research First Eagle Investment Management

Willis Towers Watson expands strategic partnership to Plug and Play?s newest innovation platform Willis Towers Watson

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