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The BenefitsLink Newsletter -
Retirement Plans Edition
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April 5, 2001
Today's sponsor: The Plan Sales System (click)


   The Plan Sales System is a comprehensive, 16-step system
for growing a retirement plan sales practice. It
provides detailed resources, contact names and numbers,
checklists, charts, handouts, letters, extensive
prospecting techniques, descriptions of current market
opportunities, and tools for planning and monitoring
sales activity.


Labor Department Sues Chicago Corporation and Trustee for Misuse of Pension Assets
Excerpt: "The U.S. Department of Labor sued Sherman-Reynolds, Inc. (SRI), of Chicago, Ill., and Thomas P. Owens, a trustee of the 401(k) profit sharing plan on March 30 for allegedly failing to timely remit employee contributions to the plan's investment account, to collect outstanding participant loans and to obtain a fidelity bond for the plan." (U.S. Department of Labor press release)

Workers Get More Control, Flexibility Over 401(k) Retirement Savings Plans
Excerpt: "One of the trends among 401(k) employee retirement savings plans has been to give workers more control over how and where they want to invest their money. That means workers now have the ability to buy individual stocks for their 401(k) through a 'brokerage window' and the ability to invest in mutual funds that aren't among the preselected ones in their 401(k)." (Knight Ridder/Tribune)

UK Retirees Angry Over Excess Assets Ruling
Excerpt: "Pensioners reacted angrily yesterday after the Law Lords ruled that electricity firms can use a pounds 1.5billion surplus in the industry's pension fund to avoid paying contributions." ([London] Online Mirror)

UK Employer Gets to Keep Surplus Pension Assets
Excerpt: "The UK's power supply industry will not have to pay back [one billion pounds] in surplus pension contributions to its retired workers following a landmark ruling in the House of Lords." (BBC News)

Union Planters Corp. Campaigns To Retain 401(k) Assets
Excerpt: "Union Planters, based in Memphis, manages $400 million of assets for 30,000 people in over 250 defined-contribution qualified retirement plans. But Alan W. Kennebeck, its senior vice president in charge of retail, said too much of that money is leaving the company when those who are in the plans retire. He said he had no figures handy, but a Spectrem Group study suggests it is a big problem for banks as well as other institutions that hold retirement plan assets." (American Banker)

Testimony of ABC Representative on HR 10 Pension Reform Bill
Nanci S. Palmintere of Intel Corporation, representing the American Benefits Council at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations (House Committee on Education and the Workforce) held April 5, 2001. (American Benefits Council)

Morgan Stanley Ends ERISA Restrictions on Mortgage-Backed Securities
Excerpt: "Morgan Stanley has amended the documentation for commercial MBS it has issued since 1995 to make the bonds available to a wider range of investors. The changes allow private pension funds and other investors governed by federal ERISA standards to buy any investment grade bonds from the deals, not just those rated triple-A." (Commercial Mortgage Alert)

Korea to Use Pension Money to Bolster Its Stock Market
Excerpt: "Korean economic policy makers today prescribed a huge dose of government money to brace a stock market that has declined to its lowest level since the economic crisis that swept Asia in 1997-98." (New York Times; free registration required)

(Following items also appear in Welfare Plans Edition)


Intel Issues Workers New Stock-Option Grant
Excerpt: "Intel, seeking to reward employees whose stock options are currently worthless, is issuing a special one-time stock-option grant to most of its 87,000 employees." (SiliconValley.com)




Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
Pensions Benefit Manager for Pentec, Inc.
in CT
Associate Pension Consultant for Pentec, Inc.
in CT
Director of 401(k) Rollover Activity for Retained Search Firm
in NY
Company Sponsored Benefits Associate for Winged Keel Group
in NY
Account Service Leader/Plan Administrator for INVESCO Retirement, Inc.
in GA
Defined Benefits Actuarial Specialist for Arnold S. Ross & Associates, Ltd.
in NY
Assistant Manager of the Pension Benefits Department for Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan
in CA



Newly Posted Press Releases
401kExchange.com Celebrates 5th Anniversary with Gold (401kExchange.com)
Venture Capitalists Seeing Gold in 401(k) Plans-Invest Additional $3.6 Million in 401kExchange! (401kExchange.com)
HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Compliance Assistance Seminar (United States Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)

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