| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
April 1, 2003 - 13,054 subscribers
Today's sponsor: National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
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Register NOW for the NCPERS 2003 Annual Conference and Exhibition Register NOW! NCPERS' 2003 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Denver, May 18-22. Topics include rising health care costs, new regulations and pending legislation. Registration: $400. Come early to attend the Trustee Education Seminar, May 16-17. Receive eight hours of continuing education and hear from experts about fund investments and strategies. Perfect for experienced trustees or administrators who need a refresher course on the most recent developments in public pensions. Registration: $250.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
PBGC Takes Over US Airways Pilots' Pension Plan
Excerpt: "The government's pension protection program assumed control Tuesday of US Airways pilots' underfunded pension plan, but only will fund about a fourth of the losses. That means significant cuts in retirement pensions for the 6,000 pilots of US Airways, which emerged from bankruptcy protection a day earlier." (AP via the New York Times; one-time registration required)
Analysis: Revised Form 5500 Targets Late Deposits of 401(k) Plan Deferrals
Excerpt: "The revised Form eliminates any further debate regarding the DOL's intended deadline for plan deposits of employee 401(k) elective deferrals. The 2002 Form reports information to the DOL for employee benefit plan years that begin in 2002." (Milberg Consulting LLC)
Cash Balance Rules Could Outlaw Hybrid Plan Designs
Excerpt: "Benefit providers hope Treasury Department regulators will go back to the drawing board on recently proposed cash balance regulations and provisions that would disallow many common retirement plan designs." (BenefitNews.com)
University of California Regents Sued Over Failure to Disclose Venture Fund Investment Results
Excerpt: "The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, argues that the California Public Records Act obligates the university to disclose the individual performance results of venture capital funds it has invested in.... The suit comes on the heels of a recent decision by CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, to disclose the same information after it was sued by the Mercury News." (The [San Jose, Calif.] Mercury News)
Chart of Retirement Plan COLA Increases, 1989 - 2003
Link to nice one-page chart, originally prepared by the IRS. (Deloitte & Touche Human Capital Advisory Services)
GAO Says PBGC Using Trust Funds to Pay Administrative Expenses
Excerpt: "The federal agency that pays retirement benefits of workers enrolled in bankrupt pension plans increasingly is dipping into those trust funds for its administrative costs, congressional investigators say." (AP via the New York Times; one-time registration required)
GAO Report: Flaws in Method Used by PBGC to Report Certain Budget Items to Congress
Excerpt: "[Dear Senator Breaux:] In your December 18, 2001, letter, you expressed concern about the increasing proportion of PBGC's operational and administrative budget that is outside of the annual administrative expense limitation. In that regard, you asked us to (1) describe the evolution of PBGC's current statutory limitation on administrative expenses, (2) review PBGC's application of the limitations set forth in its appropriations in developing its budget estimates ..." (U.S. General Accounting Office)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
9th Circuit Mandates Nationwide $4-Per-Hour Hike in Minimum Wage
Excerpt: "In a startling decision [issued April 1, 2003] that could have wide-ranging economic effects, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has directed the federal government to raise the national minimum wage by $4 per hour. Congressional leaders expressed outrage at the order. Read about it: http://www.workindex.com/editorial/af0304-01.asp" (WorkIndex.com)
Airline Aid Package Might Curb Execs' Pay
Excerpt: "Senate leaders, expected to propose $2.8 billion in airline aid as early as today, may add limits to executive pay in light of controversial perk packages at Delta and other airlines." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
A Workers' Lobby to Provide Portable Benefits
Available for downloading from SSRN.com for $5. Excerpt: "How can workers have a voice in the face of declining unionization and rising nontraditional career paths? To demonstrate how a new labor market institution can emerge, I develop a model of fundraising by a workers' organization in which the founder must allocate resources between the provision of public goods, which attracts foundation grants, and the provision of private goods, which attracts individual members." (Joni Hersch; working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Senior Benefit Systems Analyst
for Towers Perrin
in NJ, PA
Employee Benefits Sales Representative
for Great West Life & Annuity
in
OmniPlan - OmniPlus Consultant
for DC Specialists
in ALL STATES
401(k) Administrator
for Geller & Wind, Ltd.
in NY
Health and Welfare Account Executive
for Homewood Benefits
in ME
Director, Healthcare
for The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
in PA
Compliance Specialist
for The Segal Company
in DC
Defined Benefit Specialist
for Employee Benefit Resources, LLP
in MT
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Enron and the Bear: Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Troubled Market
in OH
April 17, 2003
WEB (Worldwide Employee Benefits Network) - Cleveland Chapter
Newly Posted Press Releases
(Post Yours!)
PBGC Becomes Trustee of US Airways' Pension Plan for Pilots
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Movers and Shakers: Newly Posted Announcements of Promotions and New Personnel
(Post Yours!)
Ilene H. Ferenczy (Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP)
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