Retirement Plans Edition
January 4, 2001
Today's sponsor is EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (click on banner for more information)
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Retirement Benefits Planning in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions (PDF)
Excerpt: "This article examines some of the key issues that employers will confront in the retirement plan arena during a corporate reorganization. The article refers to a transferred unit being spun off from one organization and merged into another unit. However, most of the discussion will also apply to an entire organization that merges with another organization. merger rules." (Milliman and Robertson)
FLP-ESOP: It's all in the Timing
Excerpt: "The family limited partnership (FLP) is a popular tool being used in estate planning these days. If you can properly combine this tool with a Section 1042 tax deferred sale to an ESOP you might have a real power tool. Under an FLP plan, parents contribute assets to a limited partnership, taking back a small general partnership interest and a large limited partnership interest." (Foundation for Enterprise Development)
Venturing Forth: Pensions In the Venture Capital Market
November 2000 issue. Excerpt: "U.S. pension funds have jumped into the venture capital market, armed with strategies that enable them to successfully navigate this potentially risky terrain. Once leery, more Canadian funds are following their lead." (Benefits Canada)
401kExchange.com Introduces ''Smart Compare''
Press release. Excerpt: "With a click of the mouse, 'Smart Compare' provides an immediate side-by-side detailed review of multiple Service Providers, their products, services, experience, investment options and objective customer satisfaction ratings." (Yahoo! Finance)
Mitsubishi Firms to Launch Japanese Version of 401(k) Plan
Excerpt: "Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd (BTM) and three other firms in the Mitsubishi group said on Thursday they would form a joint venture to provide a Japanese version of the United States' popular 401(k) pension scheme." (Yahoo! Finance)
Seven Common Errors 401(k) Beneficiaries Make
Excerpt: "[T]he tax rules that govern an inherited 401(k) are complex and confusing. In certain situations, action is required on your part; in others, no action is required. If you were married to the participant, you may have more options than if you were not the spouse. The only rule of thumb is that ignorance of the rules can lead to costly missteps." (401Kafe.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Fiduciary Investing Q&A Column
I work for a financial services company that serves as a transfer agency for two mutual fund families. A trust company has asked my company to accept responsibility in writing as a "named fiduciary" for a company sponsoring a 401(k) that invests in our mutual fund families. (BenefitsLink.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Fiduciary Investing Q&A Column
What are the fiduciary standards for investment returns of a trust fund for a profit sharing plan? Is it reasonable to have a net investment return of a 2.0% average during a 12-year period ? What are the remedies, if any, for the participants? (BenefitsLink.com)
Another Question is Answered in the Fiduciary Investing Q&A Column
I have a frozen target benefit plan, which received a check from Nasdaq Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation-- apparently for some class action settlement. Can the money be cashed by the employer and used to pay plan expenses, or must they deposit it into the plan and allocate as earnings? (BenefitsLink.com)
Top 40 Money Managers of 2000
November 2000 issue. Excerpt: "Canada's 40 largest pension asset management firms grew their business an average 18% during the year ended June 30, 2000. Some deep-pocketed Americans are taking notice." (Benefits Canada)
Life Cycle Funds: Ticking Time Bombs
Excerpt: "This is a cautionary tale. Not a screaming warning, but certainly an admonishment for the 401(k) invested audience to 'go slow.' The subject is lifestyle funds, also known as life cycle funds, an investment product that mutual fund companies trotted out in the early 1990s to help simplify investment decisions for employees." (Forbes, via Yahoo! Finance)
(Following also appears in Welfare Plans Edition)
Small World: The Growing Importance of International Actuarial Practice
Excerpt: "You could, for instance, go to work for a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign company. Or your company could become a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign company. Or your client could have offices and operations all over the world and assume you, as the professional you are, know what that entails." (Contingencies magazine)
Communicating Employee Benefits After a Corporate Metamorphosis (PDF)
Excerpt: "This article focuses on some of the key details that employers should address when communicating employee benefits to the workforce after a reorganization. It does not address the overall strategic framework employed in managing the process of change itself." (Milliman and Robertson)
Communications Issues Gain Prominence When Issuing Options To Diverse Base of Employee Optionees
Excerpt: "Your employees will more readily realize the benefits -- psychologically and financially -- if the company communicates at every stage of the (public company) stock option life cycle: when the options are granted, when they vest, when an employee considers exercising the options (which may or may not involve the sale), the sale and settlement of the transaction." (Foundation for Enterprise Development)
Nasdaq Extends Deadline on Stock Option Proposal Comment Period
Excerpt: "Given the importance of this issue, the intervening holiday period and the interest indicated by various parties in submitting comment, Nasdaq has extended the comment deadline until February 5, 2001." (Yahoo! Finance)
Market Turmoil Tarnishes Luster of Stock Options
Excerpt: "As the job market and the economy cools, experts say, 2001 is likely to see a major refocusing on core salaries, performance-based bonuses and lifestyle-oriented benefits instead of stock options." (CNET.com)
Dividing Employees' Stock Piles
Excerpt: "Mathematically, it doesn't matter how many options a company starts out with. A company that gives itself 10 million shares (and therefore 10 million options to buy the 10 million shares) would be worth the same amount if it gave itself 100 million shares. The only difference would be the value of each share.... The next step is to figure out how much the founders get ... in the end, it won't matter unless they make the company worth something. Then come the employees." (RedHerring.com)
| Employee Relations Manager | for The Capital Group Companies, Inc. - A Global Investment Management Company in TX |
| 401(k) Administrator | for Northeast Consulting Group in NJ, NY |
| eHR Web Technology Consultant | for Towers Perrin in Location Other Than U.S., ALL STATES |
| eHR Web Information Architect Consultant | for Towers Perrin in Location Other Than U.S., ALL STATES |
| eHR Web Strategy Consultant | for Towers Perrin in Location Other Than U.S., ALL STATES |
| Compensation Services Manager | for Gymboree Corporation-Burlingame, CA in CA |
| Benefits Manager | for Towers Perrin in CT |
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