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February 6, 2004 - 13,655 subscribers
Today's sponsor: Actuarial Systems Corporation
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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)
MFS Will Pay $225 Million To Settle SEC Fraud Charges Concerning Mutual Fund Market Timing
Press release (2/5/2004). Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a settled enforcement action against Massachusetts Financial Services Co. (MFS), its chief executive officer John W. Ballen, and its president and chief equity officer Kevin R. Parke, for violating federal securities laws by allowing widespread market timing trading in certain MFS mutual funds in contravention of those funds' public disclosures." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
Enron Agrees to Earmark $2.3 Billion from PGE Sale; Money Will Go Into Retirement Plan
Excerpt: "Under pressure from federal pension regulators, Enron Corp. has agreed to put all of the $2.3 billion in proceeds from the anticipated sale of Portland General Electric into an interest-bearing account to cover its share of pension losses.... The agreement was made Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City, a day after the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. filed a last-minute objection to the PGE sale." (Portland [Ore.] Tribune)
Actuary Sounds Alarm on Louisiana State Pension Underfunding
Excerpt: "Actuary and actuarial committee member Gary Curran said the state constitution requires that the pension systems be kept sound, and not addressing the $1.6 billion experience account deficit is unsound. 'We can ignore it, but it's not going away,' Curran said. 'It's going to get exponentially worse.'" (2TheAdvocate.com)
Text of American Benefits Council Comments to SEC on 4 p.m. Hard Close Rule (PDF)
11 pages. (American Benefits Council)
Text of ERIC Comments to SEC on Proposed 4 p.m. Mutual Fund Pricing Rule
Excerpt: "[B]ecause the Commission's proposed solution discriminates against retirement plan participants, it will fail to restore investor confidence in the equity and soundness of mutual funds.... The proposed amendments discriminate against participants in § 401(k) and other retirement plans and are likely to reduce retirement savings by discouraging employees from participating in retirement plans." (ERISA Industry Committee)
Overview: Administration Proposes Cash Balance Plan Legislation (PDF)
Excerpt: "The Treasury Department released a legislative proposal Monday, as part of the Bush Administration's Fiscal Year 2005 Revenue Proposals, that would affect cash balance plans. The proposal would provide restrictions on the transition provisions in future conversions to cash balance plans. It also would clarify that the basic cash balance design is not age discriminatory ..." (Mellon's Human Resources & Investor Solutions)
Reporting a Defaulted Participant Loan
Excerpt: "The difference between the timing of a deemed distribution and a loan offset causes considerable confusion in reporting defaulted participant loans. The method in which a practitioner reports a defaulted loan also is affected by whether the loan is a participant-directed loan or a general trust fund loan." (SunGard Corbel)
Some Question New Jersey's Pension Investments in Companies Doing Business in 'Rogue Nations
Excerpt: "The state pension system has $1 billion invested in General Electric Co., and some critics are charging it's a bad bet ... They question whether states should be investing in companies that do business with so-called 'rogue nations' ... Jim Marketti, president of CWA Local 1032, said such issues divert the pension fund from its primary purpose. 'The goal of the pension system is to provide financial security for retirees, not to advance a social policy,' Marketti said." (NJ.com)
Opinion: the President's Savings Proposal (Again) Too Little and Almost Too Late
Excerpt: " challenge President Bush to define the 'goal weight' that will get Americans 'off the spending couch and into the savings gym.' Socking $5,000 bucks away in a Retirement Savings Account isn't going to cut it, given that most Americans will need to save a half a million dollars or more, either in a 401k plan at work or on their own." (Jane White of the Retirement Solutions Foundation, published by 401kHelpCenter.com)
Redefining Retirement in the 21st Century (PDF)
36 pages. Excerpt: "The 2003 Retirement Study provides an in-depth look at how retirement in corporate America is evolving ... The study confirms that employee and employer views of retirement have changed considerably ... [Babyboomers] recognize that they must take on more responsibility for managing their retirement financial resources-- often supplemented by continuing employment well past what has traditionally been viewed as normal retirement age." (Towers Perrin)
Overview: Group Annuity Contracts Are “Guaranteed Benefit Policies”
Excerpt: "EBSA has stated that certain group annuity contracts that provide for a reasonable rate of return, guaranteed for fixed periods, as well as a right to convert the funds into annuities at the guaranteed annuity purchase rates set forth in the contract, would generally appear to be 'guaranteed benefit policies' under ERISA Sec. 401(b)(2)." (CCH News & Information Library)
New Service Helps Savers Insure Deposits
Excerpt: "There are times when consumers want to put a lot of money into a bank but hesitate because the amount exceeds the federal deposit insurance limit of $100,000.... Now there's a new company, founded last year by former government regulators, that's making it possible for consumers to get full Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage on deposits of up to $5 million." (AP via Washington Post)
Opinion: Bush Retirement Savings Proposals Amount to Fiscal Gimmickry
Excerpt: "Because the LSAs and RSAs require contributions of after-tax income, they essentially encourage people to pay taxes now that our budget forecasts are counting on them pay to later. This massive fiscal gimmick boils down to robbing the revenue from our future." (Gene Sperling on DodgeGlobe.com)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Opinion: DNA Discrimination Law Not Needed
Excerpt: "Genetic discrimination means being denied employment or health insurance (or being charged more for it) as a result of testing positive for a gene that raises your risk of developing a disease such as cancer or Alzheimer's. Since at least 1990, it has been cast as the dark underbelly of the human genome project ... [but critics] have grossly overstated the threat and the reality of genetic discrimination." (Wall Street Journal via SFGate.com)
Practitioner's Forum Discussion on Proposed Changes to Circular 230 Regarding Tax Opinions
Excerpt: "The topic is the proposed modifications of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230 regarding the requirements for tax opinions provided by attorneys and accountants. The discussion focused on how the proposed changes will affect the general practice of tax law, and in particular, the effect on employee benefits and tax practitioners." (BNA Tax Management)
The 2003 MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "The 2003 MetLife Employee Benefits Trends Study was conducted during the third quarter of 2003 and consists of two distinct surveys, one of which polls employees and the other of which polls employers." (MetLife)
Audio Report: Supermarkets Reject Labor Strike Arbitration
Excerpt: "Striking and locked-out grocery workers in California offered Wednesday to turn over stalled negotiations to a third-party negotiator. But the three supermarket chains involved in the dispute rejected the offer. The strike is now in its fourth month. Hear NPR's Carrie Kahn." (National Public Radio)
Opinion: Time for San Diego to Confront Unfunded Retiree Health, Pension Liabilities Head-On
Excerpt: "When Moody's Investors Service this week downgraded San Diego's credit outlook from stable to negative, it sounded a klaxon that no longer can be ignored. Keeping the retirement system solvent ... will consume an alarming percentage of the city's general fund for years to come." (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Opinion: Rethink Proposed Shift of Responsibility for Retirement, Health Insurance to Individuals
Excerpt: "President Bush has proposed a shift to an 'ownership society,' where individuals take increased responsibility for their health insurance and retirement income. Before embracing this initiative, it is useful to look at one example of what happens when all the responsibility is shifted to the individual -- namely, 401(k) plans." (Alicia H. Munnell and Annika Sunden in the Boston Globe)
DOL EBSA Budget Stresses ERISA Enforcement, Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "The creation and protection of Americans' retirement savings is clearly a Bush administration priority, the president's proposed 2005 budget indicates." (BenefitNews.com)
Newly Posted Events
Introduction to ESOPs
in Indiana on June 2, 2004
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
Introduction to ESOPs
in Michigan on June 3, 2004
presented by National Center for Employee Ownership
403(b) Plans Intermediate eSeminar
Nationwide on March 2, 2004
presented by McKay Hochman
Introduction to Retirement Plans eSeminar
Nationwide on March 31, 2004
presented by McKay Hochman
Newly Posted Press Releases
Plante & Moran Bridges The Great Lakes With Chicago Merger
(Plante & Moran, PLLC)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Retirement Plan Administrator
for R.J.L. Pension Services, Inc.
in FL
Compliance Specialist
for MBM Advisors Inc. in Houston, TX
in TX
Human Resources Specialist - LOA Focused
for Hewitt Associates
in IL
Chief Economist and Director of Policy and Research
for U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, ES-110
in DC
Account Executive - Client Relationship Management
for Diversified Investment Advisors
in CA
Human Resource Generalist
for Gensler
in NY
Marketing Strategist
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ
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