| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
April 23, 2003 - 13,101 subscribers
Today's sponsor: ASPA
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
ASPA--The Association for Retirement Plan Professionals How valuable is the knowledge your staff will acquire from ASPA's exclusive QKA training program? Actually, it's invaluable. Administrators and record keepers who have completed the program say they tap these resources on a daily basis. The most comprehensive 401(k) training program available, QKA helps professionals improve competence and efficiency, while minimizing costly mistakes. QKA from ASPA-- the 401(k) investment that always pays big dividends. Click on the banner above or visit http://www.asppa.org/qka/ for more information.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
The Technology Driving Successful Retirement Plan Outsourcing (PDF)
At pp. 6-8 of 8-page document. Excerpt: "This article examines some of the business and technological challenges that lead companies to outsource, discusses the range of services available, and provides a technology platform checklist of key ingredients that plan sponsors and participants view as essential to the success of total retirement outsourcing (TRO)." (Milliman USA)
Accountable to Themselves: ESOP-Owned Firm Forms Audit Committee
Excerpt: "Messer Construction doesn't have to answer to Wall Street, investment analysts or even the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet, in February, the ... company's management formed an audit committee of three of the four independent advisers who sit on the company's board. 'We felt a responsibility to the employee shareholders,' said Messer president Peter S. Strange, whose company is wholly owned by an employee stock ownership program (ESOP)." (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Overview: DOL Guidance on Plan Loans After Sarbanes-Oxley
Excerpt: "The DOL's Field Assistance Bulletin provides no guidance on whether plan loans to executive officers and directors are permissible under the new Exchange Act provision. However, the Bulletin should relieve the fear of a DOL action against a plan fiduciary who chooses to prohibit such loans, or the imposition by the IRS of a prohibited transaction excise tax under IRC § 4975." (Groom Law Group)
Pension Accounting & Personal Saving (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "We show that dramatic swings in asset markets have perverse effects on the personal saving rate. Indeed, according to the official NIPA accounting rules, the entire retirement saving sector contributed nothing to measured personal saving between 1996 and 2000." (Boston College, Center for Retirement Research)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
American Benefits Council Publishes Chart Summarizing Portman-Cardin Bill (PDF)
28 pages; copyrighted material prepared by the Benefits Group of Davis & Harman LLP. (American Benefits Council)
Web-Based Employee Benefits Applications (PDF)
Excerpt: "Because the field of employee benefits is data-intensive, the systems and tools that enabled plan administration to move from a manual to an electronic process have been worth their weight in gold. Employers are now experiencing the beginning of an era that is further revolutionizing benefit plan administration through technological developments in web-based applications." (Milliman USA)
Retired American Airlines Exec's Consulting Pact Stirs Ire
Excerpt: "As resentment over executive perks continues to simmer among American Airlines employees, some workers are also complaining about a consulting agreement awarded to the airline's marketing chief when he retired." (The Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Plan Administrator/Manager
for Pension Services Corporation
in MO
Data Processing Manager
for A well-established Dallas-based ERISA Third Party Administration Firm
in TX
Qualified Plan Consultant
for Benefit Solutions Corp
in WI
Defined Benefit Client Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management, LLC
in MA
401(k) / Retirement Plan Administrator
for Stephen Eldridge & Company, Inc.
in NH
Insurance Marketing Specialist
for Edward Jones
in MO
Pension Administrator
for The National Advisory Group, Inc./Pension Consulting Services, Inc.
in PA
Newly Posted Conferences
(Post Yours!)
Troubleshooting Plan Loan Programs
in ALL STATES
May 13, 2003
Thompson Publishing Group
The 412(i) Boot Camp
in WA
July 27, 2003
PFP Plan Administrators, the412iCompany
Health and Welfare Plan Fundamentals
in NY
May 7, 2003
The New York Metro Area Chapter - ISCEBS
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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