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January 5, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
(Click on company name or banner to learn more.)
ASC - QUALITY SOFTWARE FOR THE PENSION INDUSTRY FOR OVER 20 YEARS ASC provides complete automation for the pension office, including: DC/401(k) and DB administration and valuation systems, sophisticated Compliance Testing, DV Direct Daily Valuation, Advanced Information Manager Database (AIM), and Single-Step Processing. All ASC Technical Support Members were experienced Pension Administrators or Actuaries before joining ASC -- and most have been with ASC for over 10 years.
(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)
401(k)s Dump Scandal-Tainted Funds
Excerpt: "More than half of U.S. companies are dumping retirement plan investment options-- or are considering doing so-- as a result of the mutual fund scandal." (USA Today)
Some Employers Limiting 401(k) Trades
Excerpt: "The mutual fund scandals, which include allegations of excessive trading and other trading abuses, have prompted companies to crack down on employees who dart in and out of 401(k) plans too often." (Dallas Morning News; one-time registration required)
Opinion: How to Get Tough on Brokers Who Churn Your Funds
Excerpt: "[A]sk if your portfolio of funds and individual securities was overcharged or churned, that is, traded excessively to generate expenses and commissions that reduce your total return." (John Wasik on Bloomberg.com)
7 Ways to Lobby for a Better 401(k) at Your Company
Excerpt: "[Leon] Winer is a marketing professor at Pace University in New York City. A few years ago, he got fed up with the investment options he was being offered in his retirement account -- a slate of funds managed by the giant College Retirement Equities Fund -- and he decided to do something about it." (SmartMoney.com)
For Boomers Near Retirement, Toolboxes Aplenty
Excerpt: "Investment companies are perfecting a new pitch for baby boomers: Let us help you through retirement." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Opinion: Why Retirement Plans Are Falling Short
Excerpt: "[E]mployees assume the risk of poor investment performance [under a defined contribution plan], whereas an employer takes that risk under a defined-benefit plan. So if you are counting on a 401(k) as your financial salvation at retirement, beware! ..." (David R. Francis in the Christian Science Monitor)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
The Rise of Restricted-Stock Grants
Excerpt: "A 2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers human resource services survey shows that 15 percent more companies use restricted stock than in 2002. Switching from options to restricted stock is not necessarily all that easy to pull off." (Workforce.com)
Attorney Comments on DOL Class Exemption for Release of Claims by Plans During Litigation
Excerpt: "I wish to note one aspect of the exemption which is troubling from the standpoint of the effect it will have on the cost of litigation and trying to make plan participants whole-- that is, the DOL's requirement in the exemption that the plan must obtain the opinion of an attorney representing the plan that a 'genuine controversy exists.'" (B. Janell Grenier on BenefitsBlog.com)
Bookmark: Executive Compensation-- a Guide for Investors
Excerpt: "The federal securities laws require clear, concise and understandable disclosure about the amount and type of compensation paid to chief executive officers and other highly compensated executives of public companies. This brochure is designed to help you locate this compensation information in company reports." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
Early-Retirement Offers That Work Too Well
Excerpt: "Verizon had a great idea to save money: offer early retirement. It expected about 12,000 workers to take the offer. Instead, 21,000 did." (Workforce.com)
Newly Posted Events
Savings & Retirement Symposium
in Florida on January 22, 2004
presented by Securities Industry Association
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Underwriter I/11 (401K)
for ADP Retirement Services
in NJ
Plan Implementation Consultant
for Invesmart
in OH
Actuarial Associate
for Alliance Benefit Group
in IL
Unit Manager - HR Benefits Determination
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Legal Consultant (Lawyer)
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
ERISA Attorney
for Stevenson Keppelman Associates
in MI
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
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