DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Retirement Plan Compliance Analyst QKA
Newport Group
in AL, AZ, CA, FL, IA, IL, MD, MN, MO, NC, NY, TX, VA, VT, WI

Administrative Assistant
The Benefits Consulting Group, Inc.
in IL

Actuarial Analyst
Newport Group
in VT

Operations Team Leader - Trading
Newport Group
in CA

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QDROs in 10 Easy Steps
RECORDED
Proskauer

Innovation, Disruption and the Experience Economy
August 16, 2018 in GA
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Atlanta Chapter

Private Equity Compliance with ERISA: Fiduciary Duties in Managing ERISA Plan Assets
September 12, 2018 WEBCAST
Strafford

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Interesting Angles on the DOL's Fiduciary Rule, Part 99

"The SEC labeled its interpretation of the standard of care for RIAs (the 'RIA Interpretation') as a proposal. However, in that proposal, the SEC explained that the RIA Interpretation was based on the SEC's current understanding of the duties of investment advisers.... This article discusses some of those duties and compares them to the DOL's vacated fiduciary rule and the SEC's proposed Regulation Best Interest ('Reg BI') for broker-dealers." FredReish.com

P&I DC West Conference | San Diego | Oct 21 - 23

Join leading executives who manage 401(k), 403(b), 457 and TSP plans at DC WEST. You'll learn how other plan sponsors analyze, develop, implement and measure programs for their participants, so you can improve your own plan.

Text of IRS Publication 4546: 403(b) Plan Checklist (PDF)

Rev. July 2018. "Every year it's important that you review the requirements for operating your 403(b) retirement plan. Use this checklist to help you keep your plan in compliance with many of the important rules. For additional information (including examples) on how to find, fix and avoid each mistake, click on [the corresponding hypertext link in the IRS publication]." Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Puerto Rico Treasury Department Extends Relief for Eligible Distributions to Participants Affected by Hurricane Maria

"The Puerto Rico Treasury Department has issued Administrative Determination No. 18-13 to extend until November 30, 2018, the Eligibility Period for the relief on Eligible Distributions (including, hardship withdrawals) to participants in Puerto Rico tax qualified retirement plans who were affected by Hurricane Maria."
Groom Law Group

Making Sense of Auto-Enrollment Rules

"[T]he IRS doesn't call it auto-enrollment, they refer to it as an 'automatic contribution arrangement.' And thus, the acronyms, like 'ACA' (for automatic contribution arrangement), often mystify people. Additionally, there are actually three types of auto-enrollment; and the acronyms used are quite similar to one another (i.e., ACA, EACA, QACA). Thus, we can eliminate any last hope of anyone other than of attorneys following along.... Here are the three different types of auto-enrollment, in plain English[.]" Cammack Retirement Group

Statute of Limitations Bars Claim That High Fees Made Plan's Investments Imprudent

"This case highlights the importance of 'actual knowledge' under ERISA's statute of limitations for fiduciary violations: Not only does actual knowledge shorten the limitation period from six to three years, but it may also effectively prevent the use of a continuing violation theory of liability. The case also illustrates how it is not always clear what an employee must know to have actual knowledge." [ Bernaola v. Checksmart Financial LLC , No. 16-684 (S.D. Ohio July 12, 2018)]
Thomson Reuters / EBIA

SPARK Forum - November 4-6, 2018 -- 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 includes topics of interest to Record Keepers, 401(k) Plan Providers, Financial Advisors and Cyber Security Professionals.

PBGC Staff Object to Premium Savings in Spinoff and Termination Pension Annuity Transactions

"While the website posting suggests PBGC has the right to assess premiums as if spinoff and termination transactions had not occurred, it does not announce any plan to take premium enforcement actions against any plans that have already completed similar transactions.... If the PBGC were to assess additional premiums for completed transactions, it would face substantial hurdles.... PBGC staff's opinion on those transactions brings their viability into question because the PBGC may have the ability to hinder or prevent future transactions from occurring."
Kilpatrick Townsend

Fidelity Cuts Some Fees to Zero in Price War, Stinging Blackrock

"The company will offer two new index funds to individual investors with a zero expense ratio ... Additional fuel for the price competition among money managers has come from a practice that involves asset managers loaning out shares of companies. In exchange, the firms get cash collateral, which they can reinvest for a return to help offset fees associated with index funds and exchange-traded funds." Pensions & Investments

An Improvement on Regulation Best Interest

"The best that can be said for Regulation Best Interest is that it's a convoluted muddle of bits taken from the existing B/D suitability standard here and pieces taken from the [DOL's] Conflict of Interest Rule there, with some lofty-sounding fiduciary language thrown in for good measure.... I suggest an approach different from the mishmash offered by the SEC: actually enforcing the '40 Act as it was written nearly 80 years ago." W. Scott Simon, for Morningstar Advisor

ERIC Comment Letter to New York City Council on Proposal for Mandatory Employer-Sponsored Retirement Program (PDF)

"[1] Defining employee with an age requirement of 18 years old is in direct contradiction of federal laws and regulations that allow an employer to wait until age 21 to allow an employee to enroll in the employer retirement plan. [2] Employers should be able to limit participation in an employer retirement plan to employees who do not exceed 1,000 hours in a year, in accordance with ERISA ... [3] The program should automatically exempt employers that provide a retirement plan to employees in accordance with ERISA." The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC]

Second Circuit Requires Reevaluation of ERISA Attorney Fee Judgment

"[T]he Second Circuit first concluded the district court incorrectly determined that the plaintiff had not achieved 'some success' -- a threshold requirement for an ERISA fee award -- because 'some success' was achieved by getting the district court to vacate its earlier decision based on an intervening Second Circuit decision. The underlying issue pertained to the appropriate standard of review where a plan allegedly did not have claims procedures that complied with the DOL regulations." [ Tedesco v. I.B.E.W. Local 1249 Ins. Fund , No. 17-3404 (2d Cir. July 6, 2018)]
Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center

Michigan Catching Up On State Employee Pension and Retiree Health Benefit Debt

"[U]nfunded [pension] liabilities fell by $100 million in 2017 ... because the state outperformed its assumptions, but also because the state changed its assumptions.... [T]he state decided to set money aside to pay for current retiree health benefits costs. Lawmakers have saved $2 billion to pay for these benefits and would need another $7.5 billion to catch up on the rest, if lawmakers choose to prefund the costs instead of reducing the benefits." Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Tax Reform May Heighten Impact of NQDC Plans as a Retirement Benefit for Executives

"[T]he most common reason employers offer a NQDC plan is to 'have a competitive benefits package' (36.3 percent) followed by 'helping eligible employees accumulate assets (23.4 percent).... These benefits are increasingly important as executives find their contributions to qualified plans, such as 401(k)s constrained by contribution limits. Indeed, a 'restoration match' was the most common type of employer contribution, provided by 32 percent of NQDC plans, to fill the gap in employer matching contributions to qualified plans created by tax code limits." Plan Sponsor Council of America [PSCA]

Rollover Check Mailed Directly to Now-Unhappy Former Participant

A former employee/participant requested a rollover be made to their new plan on the Great West platform. They filled out the paperwork with the address/etc. at GW. However, when the former John Hancock platform issued the rollover check, they mailed it to the former employer. The former employer in turn immediately sent the check to the participant. This all was done over a period of less than 3 weeks. The former participant is now "up in arms" about the check not being sent directly to the rollover address, and she's hounding the former employer. Someone told her that it should be spelled out in the SPD. I thought that was an administrative call. Any thoughts? BenefitsLink Message Boards

Affiliated Service Group Rules: Can an S Corporation Be an FSO?

The proposed regulations for the affiliated service group rules exclude corporations, other than professional service corporations, from the definition of a first service organization. I can't find any guidance on whether an S corporation is a corporation for this purpose. BenefitsLink Message Boards

Starting Qualified Plan When SIMPLE IRA Exists; No Real Penalty Here?

What are the penalties of starting a Qualified Plan in a year when a SIMPLE IRA is in existence? I know one is not allowed to terminate a SIMPLE-IRA mid-year, but what if no one elects to make contributions to it? What's the effect on the existing IRAs (under the SIMPLE IRA program) that hold only the 2017 contributions? Any effect on the SIMPLE-IRA program if no contributions are made for 2018? What if contributions under the SIMPLE IRA are made for 2018? BenefitsLink Message Boards

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Press Releases

Relationship Integration with MassMutual Allows Advisors to Access Client Data Within the Fi360 Toolkit fi360

Leading Attorney Marcia Wagner's Testimony Cited by Court as Crucial in Dismissal of ERISA Case Against New York University Wagner Law Group P.C.

Digital Solutions for Healthcare's Major Cost Drivers Presented at Employee Health & Well-Being Summit Kiio

Aon Develops ESG Rating System for Fund Managers Aon Corporation

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