Senior ERISA Attorney / Managing Partner Level
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in CA, OR, WA, Telecommute

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Carr, Riggs and Ingram, LLC
in NM, TX, Telecommute

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December 6, 2018 WEBCAST
Morgan Lewis

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Proposed Hardship Withdrawal Regs Include Relief for Victims of Hurricanes Michael and Florence

"Retirement plans can provide this relief to employees and certain members of their families who live or work in disaster areas affected by Hurricane Michael or Florence and designated for individual assistance by FEMA. Currently, parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina are eligible.... To qualify for this relief, hardship withdrawals must be made by March 15, 2019." Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

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Court Dismisses Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit Against Washington University 403(b) Retirement Plans

"Plaintiffs alleged that [fiduciaries]: ... [1] paid too much for recordkeeping and administrative services; [2] caused losses to plan participants by offering only retail class funds, when lower-cost institutional fund options were available; and [3] failed to remove poorly performing funds.... The judge ... [found] that the university satisfied its duty to offer an acceptable array of investment funds with reasonable fees, and that no facts indicated that the fiduciaries failed to use a prudent process in selecting plan investment options." [ Davis v. Washington Univ. in St. Louis , No. 17-1641 (E.D. Mo. Sept. 28, 2018)]
Hodgson Russ LLP

Ninth Circuit: Statute of Limitations Requires 'Actual Knowledge' of Fiduciary Breach

"A former Intel Corp. employee who sued the technology company for [allegedly] investing his retirement funds imprudently got a second chance ... to pursue his case ... The 9th Circuit reversed the District Court's decision ..., ruling that Mr. Sulyma did not have 'actual knowledge' of the company's alleged breaches to trigger the three-year limit. Intel had argued that Mr. Sulyma had knowledge of the alleged breaches because it disclosed information about the plan's asset allocation and investment strategy in fund fact sheets and several other notices, including disclosures on its website." [ Sulyma v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm. , No. 17-15864 (9th Cir. Nov. 28, 2018)]
Pensions & Investments

2018 End of Year Plan Sponsor 'To Do' List: Qualified Retirement Plans

Action Items for: [1] All qualified plans; [2] Section 401(k) plans; [3] Defined contribution plans (other than Section 401(k) plans); [4] Defined benefit plans; and [5] Section 403(b) plans. Snell & Wilmer

Lame Duck House Tax Proposal Includes Numerous Retirement Plan Provisions

"The Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018, in addition to including several provisions related to employee benefits, extends various expiring provisions, contains disaster relief provisions ... includes special provisions for start-ups, and technical corrections to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The legislation breaks no new ground; its provisions were included in either the Retirement Enhancement Savings Act of 2018 (RESA) or the Family Savings Act." The Wagner Law Group

Panel Won't Meet Deadline on Fix for Multiemployer Pension Plans

"A bipartisan committee of lawmakers will miss a Friday deadline to reach an agreement on addressing financial shortfalls of multiemployer pension plans, meaning Congress is less likely to take up legislation on the matter before year's end. Both Republicans and Democrats on the panel said Thursday they nonetheless were close to agreeing on a proposal, and negotiations were expected to continue." The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required

Hatch, Brown Commit to Continued Work on Multiemployer Pension Crisis Past Nov. 30

"When the Joint Select Committee was created, it was expected members would vote on a package by this Friday. [Co-Chairs Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH)] say that while they have made significant progress and a bipartisan solution is attainable, more time is needed and the committee will continue its work." Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans

EBRI's 2018 Employer Financial Wellbeing Survey

"Of companies that were at least interested in providing employees with financial wellness initiatives, 54 percent were offering them to their employees ... [and] 12 percent were actively implementing ... 38 percent of firms considered their initiatives to be in the pilot phase. Another 34 percent described their efforts as periodic campaigns or ad hoc programs.... [In]-person group sessions, email communications, and in-person individual sessions were the most common methods." Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]

How Millennials Can Maximize Savings for Retirement

"Someone who consistently saves 10% of pay for 40 years should have enough -- combined with Social Security -- to maintain their pre-retirement living standard without a significant risk of going broke over the following 30 years ... But people who start saving 10 years after they've begun working and save for 30 -- rather than 40 -- years would have to set aside 20% annually to reach the same goal[.]" The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required

The Top-Hat Exemption After Sikora v. UPMC (PDF)

"[S]everal federal courts of appeals have addressed the disputed contention that the presence of employee bargaining power is required for a plan to fall under the top-hat exemption. In this article, [the authors] look at recent appeals court decisions and their effects on this exemption." McDermott Will & Emery, via Benefits Law Journal

ESG's Growing Role Poses a Challenge: How to Integrate It Into Executive Compensation Programs

"ESG is a broad concept that can be measured in numerous ways, and there is not one 'bottom-line' number that can be referenced ... In many cases, companies have included the most material measures as separate measures within the incentive arrangements ... The achievement of an organization's ESG priorities needs to be addressed in different ways through the organization, and there might not be clear line of sight between corporate progress and an executive's contribution to the organization's success." Willis Towers Watson

Press Releases

DataPath Receives Top Honor for Employee Engagement Program Website DataPath, Inc.

Wells Fargo Announces New Retirement Income Planning Center Wells Fargo

Zahra Ebrahimi, Ph.D. Joins Employee Benefit Research Institute EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]

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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

Text of IRS FAQs on 403(b) Pre-Approved Plan Program: Eligible Adopting Employers and Reliance on Letters Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Why Now Might Be the Time to Eliminate a Hardship Distribution Provision Cammack Retirement Group

IRS Issues Proposed Regs for Hardship Distributions Ice Miller LLP