Specialist, Bundled Client Services
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HowardSimon
in IL

Retirement Plan Administrator
Bronfman E.L. Rothschild
in MN, WI

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Aon Corporation
in MD

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Enterprise Iron
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Easy Low-cost Ways to Start Your Small Business Retirement Plan
RECORDED
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

ASC 715 and OPEB Valuation
October 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries])

Developments in Healthcare Reform
October 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(Corporate Synergies)

Large Buyout Activity Headed For Another Big Year
October 16, 2015 WEBCAST
(Mercer)

Employer Health Plans in the Time of Exchanges: Compliance, Administration, and Employee Communications Impacts
October 28, 2015 WEBCAST
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Fiduciary Breach: Avoidance and Mitigation
October 28, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries])

Advanced Plan Design Workshop
November 4, 2015 in NY
(SunGard Relius)

Advanced Plan Design Workshop
November 6, 2015 in OH
(SunGard Relius)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Draft Instructions for 2015 IRS Form 5500-EZ (PDF)
13 pages. "Trust information on line 4 is no longer optional. You are required to answer these questions relating to the name and EIN of the trust, and the trustee's name and telephone number. Preparer information on the Form 5500 is no longer optional. You are required to answer these questions relating to the preparer's name, address, and telephone number. Questions on line 6 have been split and added for active participants and number of participants that terminated employment during the plan year with accrued benefits that were less than 100% vested. New IRS compliance questions from lines 13 through 16 were added for purposes of satisfying the reporting requirements of section 6058." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Feeling Left Out? It's Time to Get "Ahead of the Curve"

This October the nation's retirement industry elite will converge in our nation's capital to get "Ahead of the Curve" with insights from industry insiders, regulators, pundits and the nation's leading voices. It's ASPPA Annual. Join us.

[Official Guidance]

Text of EBSA PTE 2015-14: QPAM Exemption Involving Credit Suisse AG
"The exemption affects the ability of certain entities with specified relationships to Credit Suisse AG to continue to rely upon the relief provided by [PTE 84-14].... The record for this exemption includes the hearing transcript and hearing-related submissions, as well as comments received in connection with the Second Proposed Exemption.... This Second Final Exemption covers the same transactions as those described in the Temporary Exemption, but contains enhanced conditions for the protection of plans and their participants and beneficiaries." (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

Ninth Circuit Holds That Asset Sale Successor May Be Liable for Predecessor Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability Without Assumption of Liability
"Even though the purchaser (a former salesman of the predecessor employer) purchased only 30 percent of the predecessor's assets at public auction and none of its customer lists or goodwill, and used his own experience and contacts to hire the predecessor's former employees and contact customers, the court remanded the case back to the district court to determine whether there was sufficient continuity of the predecessor's business (most notably, continuity of the customer base) to be a successor." [Resilient Floor Covering Pension Trust Fund Bd. of Trustees v. Michael's Floor Covering, Inc. (9th Cir. Sept. 11, 2015)] (Haynes and Boone, LLP)  

Assessing Fee Reasonableness, Step Two: Do Plan Expenses Square with the Fee Payment Policy?
"This Yogi-ism is particularly apt for ERISA plan fiduciaries.... Consider a typical 401(k) plan. Deciding whether and in what manner the plan or the plan sponsor should pay the plan's fees and expenses is a huge, often unseen, fork in the road.... To prudently navigate this fork in the road, the plan sponsor must decide the basic question: Who is supposed to pay for the administration of the plan?" (ERISA Fiduciary Administrators)  

Sounding a Four-Alarm Fire Drill on DOL's Onrushing Fiduciary Rule
"In an accent that leaves no doubt about what baseball team she roots for, and with an authority that assures we will be listening to her words for years, Wagner gave a wide overview and some solid specifics on the Department of Labor's determination to put clients first come what may. You say you're a fiduciary? Maybe you shouldn't say that too loud." (RIABiz)  

Raymond James CEO Says DOL Rule Well Intended But Misses Mark
" 'While the DOL is well intended, I don't think they fully understand, not being in the industry,' [Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly] said. 'The DOL's full time job isn't to understand financial advisors. They don't have the examination horsepower, they don't understand what goes on day-to-day.' ... Reilly argues that should the rule stand in its original form, it might be entirely cost prohibitive for Raymond James to continue to serve smaller accounts." (Financial Planning)  

The DOL Fiduciary Proposal: Six Key Provisions to Watch
"Are rollovers still covered? ... Have the exceptions for certain sales and 'education' been broadened? ... Is the so-called BICE still in place? ... Will the BICE's fee-disclosure requirement be changed? ... What specific products are covered by various exceptions and carve-outs? ... How long do firms have to implement and comply with the new rule?" (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

House Committee Passes Fiduciary Rule Alternative
"Seen as an alternative to the [DOL's] fiduciary-only rule, the Retail Investor Protection Act [RIPA] passed by a 34-25 vote along party lines.... Several Democrats who voted with [Rep. Ann Wagner] when she first introduced the RIPA in 2013 changed their votes this time. Ninety-six House Democrats recently signed a letter asking DOL Secretary Thomas Perez to make significant changes to the rule." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

The Performance of TIAA's Traditional Retirement Annuity for Selected Investment Cohorts, 1970-2005 Through 2013 (PDF)
38 pages. "[This paper examines] the role of an annuity as an investment option in the accumulation phase of a retirement income portfolio, such as those found in defined contribution plans.... The data allow [an examination of] a select number of 'cohorts' associated with premiums (or contributions) assumed to have been invested on March 1 in the years 1970, 1975, 1980, ..., 2005, or eight such cohorts in total.... [The authors] empirically demonstrate that adding an instrument such as TIAA's [Traditional Retirement Annuity] to a retirement income portfolio unambiguously improved the financial performance of a retirement income portfolio over the 1970 through 2013 and shorter periods." (TIAA-CREF Institute)  

Priorities of IRS Tax Exempt/Governmental Entities Division for FY 2016
"In FY 2016, [the Employee Plans Office] will continue to: [1] develop, maintain and refine a comprehensive collection of enforcement mechanisms that identify and focus efforts on addressing retirement plan non-compliance, [2] leverage existing programs and learned best practices to enhance voluntary compliance, and [3] address and eliminate fraudulent and abusive schemes that undermine the retirement system.... We anticipate greater than 24,000 individually-designed plan case receipts and greater than 1,500 defined benefit pre-approved plans. This is in addition to the 403(b) pre-approved plan submissions that were received in mid-FY 2015." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Tread Very Carefully When Using Your IRA to Buy a Business
"Is it possible to thread the needle and set-up a complaint arrangement to fund a private business through a retirement plan? It is possible, but you have to be very, very careful not only with the initial set up but also with the continued operation of the business." (Benefits Law Group of Chicago)  

[Opinion]

Robos, DOL, and the Future
"In light of the proposed DOL legislation around the fiduciary standard, ... robos can help overcome the primary objections in some form, such as the burden on broker dealers of the proposed regulation and the inability to serve lower and middle-income investors. Technology is a great 'disruptor'.... The financial industry must continue to innovate the way we service our customers, or Google/Uber/Snapchat will find a better way to serve them." (fi360)  

[Opinion]

American Retirement Association Comment Letter to IRS on Changes to Determination Letter Program (PDF)
12 pages. "ARA understands the resource concerns faced by the IRS and has been actively involved with the IRS in discussions to improve both the [determination letter (DL)] program and the pre-approved plan program. Our comments below are made with the expectation the IRS will continue to work with the practitioner community to improve both of these programs.... This comment letter primarily focuses on the changes made to the DL program for individually designed plans ... This letter first addresses the questions posed by the IRS. The answers to many of these questions are inherently tied to other issues under consideration by the IRS." (American Retirement Association [ARA])  

CBIZ Acquires Pension Resource Group, Inc.
CBIZ, Inc.

ABC and Fringe Benefit Group Announce Expansion of The Contractors Plan to Include ACA-Compliant Benefits Solution for Construction Contractors
Fringe Benefit Group

Assurant Completes Sale of Supplemental and Small Group Self-Funded Health Insurance Business Lines to National General Holdings Corp.
Assurant

Philips Signs Agreements to Transfer U.S. Pension Plan Obligations for a Large Group of Former Employees to Three Insurance Companies
Royal Philips

Prudential Signs Pension Agreement with JCPenney
Prudential Financial, Inc.

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