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) 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!)
Newly Posted Press Releases
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