[Official Guidance]

Text of PBGC Technical Update 21-1: Effect of ARP on 4010 Reporting

"This Technical Update 21-1 provides [PBGC] guidance on the effect of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) ... on annual financial and actuarial reporting under section 4010 of ERISA and part 4010 of PBGC's regulations. This Technical Update waives 4010 reporting requirements in situations where the reporting obligation is triggered solely because of a retroactive election permitted by ARP and IRS Notice 2021-48 . It also provides guidance with respect to actuarial information reported in a 4010 filing that changes because of ARP."   MORE >>

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

[Sponsor]

SPARK Forum - November 7-9, 2021 -- The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

3 days packed with actionable insights for advisors, recordkeepers and plan providers. Explore latest trends, strategies and ideas to lead through disruption. Join the retirement event with the most senior audience and network with purpose. Register Now .

[Official Guidance]

PBGC Updates Premium Rates for 2022

PBGC has determined the premium rates applicable for the 2022 plan year in accordance with the indexing rules provided in section 4006 of ERISA. The  Premium Rates  web page has been updated accordingly.   MORE >>

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

[Guidance Overview]

ERISA Plan Fiduciaries Given DOL Go-Ahead for Much Wider Use of ESG Investments

"The Proposal represents a significant change from the prior administration's fiduciary rule relating to ESG investing ... [1] Elimination of pecuniary factors concept.... [2] Specific incorporation of ESG factors that may be relevant.... [3] No sacrifice of economic returns.... [4] The tie-breaker rule.... [5] Use of ESG in participant investment alternatives.... The Proposal [also makes] changes to the proxy voting and exercise of shareholder rights provisions in the Current Rule."   MORE >>

Sidley Austin LLP

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Proposes Rules Regarding ESG Factors and Proxy Voting

"The Proposed Regulations represent a significant change in the DOL's viewpoint of fiduciary duties that relate to ESG factors and shareholder activism, but they do not fundamentally alter the fiduciary duties to make investment decisions and to vote proxies and exercise shareholder rights to enhance investment returns. They may nevertheless have an impact by removing potential barriers from selecting funds that, for example, take into account climate change impacts or corporate governance practices as part of their investment strategies."   MORE >>

Kilpatrick Townsend

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Releases Proposed Rule on Considering ESG Factors in ERISA Plan Investing

"This Proposed Rule is the most recent volley in a 25-year-long game of regulatory ping-pong with respect to the use of ESG factors in making investment decisions for ERISA plans and successive DOL administrations altering interpretations.... The Proposed Rule would amend the 2020 Rule -- and the DOL's legal interpretation -- in three important ways."   MORE >>

Morgan Lewis

[Guidance Overview]

Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?

24 pages. "It is unclear what specific actions SSA would take if a trust fund were insolvent. After depletion, the trust funds would continue to receive tax revenues, from which a majority of scheduled benefits could be paid. One option would be to pay full benefits on a delayed schedule; another would be to make timely but reduced payments. Social Security beneficiaries would remain legally entitled to full, timely benefits and could take legal action to claim the balance of their benefits." [RL33514, updated Oct. 15, 2021]   MORE >>

Congressional Research Service [CRS]

ESG Would Get Massive Boost from DOL Proposed 401(k) Rule

"A proposed rule issued Wednesday by the DOL bodes extremely well for ESG investment managers, especially because the regulator clarified that target-date funds and other default products that use the investment criteria are permissible in 401(k)s."   MORE >>

RPA Convergence

ERISA Fiduciary Breach Litigation Can Involve Complicated Damages Analyses

"If an ERISA plaintiff establishes a fiduciary breach, expect the computation of damages to be a complicated process that may enhance damages through judgment. And a court judgment in complicated cases can take years to issue. This is the lesson from a recent decision of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit." [ Browe v. CTC Corporation , No. (2d Cir. Sep. 29, 2021)]   MORE >>

Seyfarth

Auto-Enrollment and the Importance of the Default

"Automatic enrollment is a powerful strategy proven to increase retirement plan participation, but the newest -- and last -- edition of Nudge , a seminal book on behavioral finance coauthored by Nobel laureate Robert H. Thaler, stresses that the benefits of the popular strategy depend largely on how it is implemented."   MORE >>

Vanguard

Surprising Findings on 401(k) Participant Student Loan Debt

"Nearly one-in-three Baby Boomer and Gen-X 401k plan participants who have student loan debt also have outstanding 401k loans -- a much higher percentage than Millennials or Gen Z participants.... The research also shows Gen-Z joining the ranks of workers increasingly burdened by debt, entering adulthood with $27,900 in student debt on average. But notably, Boomers hold more than twice as much debt as these younger borrowers."   MORE >>

401(k) Specialist

How to Create a Retirement Policy Statement

"If you're close to retirement or already retired, creating a retirement policy statement is a critical task. With an RPS, you're effectively committing yourself to abiding by a given system. That's not to say your system won't evolve as the years go by, but having an RPS makes it much less likely that you'll ratchet your planned 4% spending rate up to 10% in a given year."   MORE >>

Morningstar

[Opinion]

Planning on Social Security

"[E]ven if Congress acts quickly to bring the system into actuarial balance (which seems unlikely to us), a fairness argument can still be made that baby boomers should be part of the solution to some degree. In the more likely situation where Congress fails to act or waits until the last minute to act, it may not be possible to avoid reducing benefits for some or all baby boomers in pay status."   MORE >>

Ken Steiner, FSA Retired

[Official Guidance]

Text of SEC Reopening of Comment Period for Listing Standards for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation (PDF)

"The [SEC] is reopening the comment period for its [ 2015 proposal ] to implement the provisions of Section 954 of the [Dodd-Frank Act]. The proposed rule and rule amendments would direct the national securities exchanges and national securities associations to establish listing standards that would require each issuer to develop and implement a policy providing for the recovery, under certain circumstances, of incentive-based compensation based on financial information required to be reported under the securities laws that is received by current or former executive officers, and require disclosure of the policy."   MORE >>

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]

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Form 5330 Not Extended -- What to Do?

"401(k) plan's auditors discovered a series of missed deferrals. TPA is calculating lost earnings. Plan sponsor will deposit missed deferrals plus lost earnings. Client will file Form 5330. When the Form 5558 was prepared and filed, however, the problem had not been discovered yet -- so the Form 5330 was not extended. Will the Form 5330 be rejected?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Owner-Only Plan-- Form 8955-SSA Needed When Spouse Terminates Employment?

"I've never had a spouse of an owner-only (and spouse) plan terminate before. Is a Form 8955-SSA required?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

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GoalPath Makes Its Managed Account and Plan Success Program Available on iJoin

iJoin

Morningstar Investment Management and PAi Announce First ESG Pooled Employer Plan

Morningstar, Inc.

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The Intersection of California and Federal Leave of Absence Laws as Workplaces Struggle with COVID-19

October 21, 2021 WEBCAST

CDF Labor Law LLC

Navigating Controlled Group and Affiliated Service Group Rules

October 28, 2021 WEBCAST

Hunton Andrews Kurth

The Data Dilemma: The Impact Bad Data Has on a Pension

November 10, 2021 WEBCAST

PBI Research Services

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DOL Proposal Would Reverse Trump ESG, Proxy Voting Rules

American Retirement Association [ARA]

New 401(k) Adoption Agreements on the Horizon: Pitfalls for the Unwary

Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP

Surprise for Some New 401(k) Plan Sponsors in California: $10,000 Plan Audits

E is for ERISA