| BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter |   |
August 17, 2004
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)
Understanding & Managing Fiduciary Responsibility: a Guide for Plan Sponsors (PDF)
Excerpt: "The first step in developing a plan's investment program is to decide on the investment categories to be offered by the plan. Each category should have distinct risk and return features that enable plan sponsors to construct a diversified portfolio and, for participant directed plans, allows the participants to combine investments in a way that accomplishes their objectives–based on their need for investment return and their willingness to accept investment risk." (Principal Financial Group)
Retirement Savers Forget Past Lessons
Excerpt: "The lessons of the 1990s seem to have been lost on 401(k) investors. On average, they have less than half their money in diversified stock mutual funds. In fact, 401(k) savers seem to be growing averse to stocks. They've chopped down the stock portion of their portfolio by 17 percent in the last five years." (The Miami Herald; one-time registration required)
Top Companies' Pension Funds Still in the Red
Excerpt: "The pension plans of America's largest corporations - and some of Arizona's top employers - were underfunded in 2003 by $165 billion, according to a new report. But the 362 big companies examined in the study by Standard & Poor's Corp. managed to trim their combined shortfall from $219 billion the prior year." (Arizona Republic)
US Air to Seek 5-Year Extension for Pension Fund Payments
Excerpt: "US Airways, facing a cash shortage as it tries to avoid another bankrup.tcy filing, said yesterday that it would seek government permission to stretch out $67.5 million in contributions it owes to the pensions of its mechanics and flight attendants." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Alabama State Pension Fund Manager Says He's Willing to Lose Stake in US Airways
Excerpt: "US Airways Chairman David G. Bronner said Monday he is prepared to lose his [fund's] $240 million investment in the financially troubled airline -- a likely occurrence, he conceded, unless the company's 28,000 employees approve $800 million in wage and benefits cuts soon.... US Airways is required to make $68 million in contributions next month to [two employee] pension plans ... Bronner called the payments 'a huge cloud'' that could tip the cash-strapped company into bankrup.tcy." (PittsburghLive.com)
Another Way to Spell “Relief”: E-P-C-R-S [Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System] (PDF)
Excerpt: "The IRS is well aware that mistakes can and do happen. That's why the IRS has in place a system that lets you bring your plan back into compliance without losing its tax benefits: the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or 'EPCRS'. EPCRS encompasses three distinct correction programs: 1) the Self-Correction Program; 2) the Voluntary Correction Program; and 3) the Audit Closing Agreement Program." (Retirement News for Employers (Summer 2004); Internal Revenue Service)
Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
Excerpt: "To meet their responsibilities as plan sponsors, employers need to understand some basic rules, specifically the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA sets standards of conduct for those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets (called fiduciaries). 'Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities' provides an overview of the basic fiduciary responsibilities applicable to retirement plans under the law." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business (PDF)
Excerpt: "This pamphlet constitutes a small entity compliance guide for purposes of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)
Opinion: the Politics of “Minority” or “Emerging” Manager-of-Manager Programs
Excerpt: "As a result of multiple layers of managers, the fees related to manager-of-manager programs are higher than hiring the underlying managers directly. The upstream manager or the 'manager of managers' receives approximately half the fee; the underlying managers, the managers who are actually managing the money, receive approximately half or even less in some cases." (The Benchmark Companies)
SEC May Bar Rewards to Brokers
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to vote tomorrow to bar mutual fund companies from steering their stock and bond business to brokerage firms that promote the fund companies' products. The practice, known as directed brokerage, has come under fire as an area rife with potential conflicts of interest after scrutiny of the $7.6 trillion mutual fund industry intensified last year." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Court: Early Retirement Payments to Tenured Teachers Were Wages Subject to FICA
Excerpt: "Payments by a public school to tenured teachers under an early retirement program were determined to be wages subject to FICA withholding. The district court held that the payments were for a right that arose out of the employment relationship regardless of whether the payments were also for a property right." (CCH News & Information Library)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Transcript of Washington Post Online Discussion of Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "The Washington Post on Monday published its annual look at compensation levels of the region's top executives. It shows that pay for the Washington area's top executives rose significantly last year, reversing the downward trend that set in with the recession in 2001. Washington Post staff writer David Hilzenrath and editor Mike Flagg, who compiled the compensation data, [went online] to discuss the package." (Washington Post; one-time registration required)
Newly Posted Events
A Day with Sal Tripodi
in California on August 31, 2004
presented by San Diego County Chapter of NIPA
HSAs: The Latest Tricks
Nationwide on August 24, 2004
presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
401(k)/Defined Contribution or Defined Benefit Compliance Analyst
for National Retirement Services, Inc.
in
401(k) Enroller/Contractor
for Transamerica-The Winning Organization
in FL
401(k)/Defined Contribution or Defined Benefit Account Manager
for National Retirement Services, Inc. (NRS)
in CA, NC
401(k) Enroller/Contractor - Bilingual
for Transamerica
in FL
Director, PNC Advisors Sales and Client Service Support
for PNC Advisors
in PA
401(k) Plan Administrator
for Employee Administration and Consulting Company
in MN
Pre-retirement Benefits Counselor
for Kansas City Missouri Public School Retirement System
in MO
Paralegal
for American International Group, Inc.
in NY
Qualified Plan Administrator
for High End Small Plan TPA
in FL
Pension Sales
for The Pension Service, LLC
in MA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Search BenefitsLink
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research
- Employee Benefits Library
Copyright 2004 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can reprint this newsletter in full (if you also include this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
https://benefitslink.com/about.html
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.
Housekeeping: