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July 21, 2005
Today's sponsor: ASC & The ASC Institute

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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Stock Market Volatility & 401(k) Plans by Colleen E. Medill (PDF)
78 pages. Excerpt: "[This article] uses a series of hypothetical litigation scenarios to illustrate how interpretation of the employer's duty ... under ERISA present different policy choices for the federal courts. (Originally published Spring 2001)" (University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform via The ERISA Industry Committee)

Understanding the True Cost of Your 401k Plan
Excerpt: "All plan expenses, whether paid by the company, passed on to your participants or shared, should be clearly documented and as ERISA requires 'reasonable.' Reasonableness can be determined by evaluating the services included and by benchmarking against other plans with similar characteristics and features." (401khelpcenter.com)

Opinion: Corporate Pension Welfare in the United States Is Growing More Popular Each Passing Day
Excerpt: "Cox News Service reports that because of high fuel costs, there is more than a 50-50 chance that Northwest and Delta airlines will seek bankrup.tcy within the next 12 months, and that American and Continental airlines might not be far behind them. When that happens, they'll no doubt dump their pension obligations on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that insures private pensions." (Times Online)

Analysis of Proposed 415 Regulations Related to Governmental Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "The following analysis focuses on key provisions of the proposed regulations that apply to governmental defined benefit plans and is not intended as a comprehensive review." (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)

Black Investor Survey: Saving & Investing among Higher Income African-American and White Americans (PDF)
Excerpt: "The main objectives of this research are to: Identify similarities and differences between high income African-Americans and Whites with regard to saving and investing. Examine the factors, particularly past influences and underlying beliefs, that may impact how African-Americans and Whites think about financial matters. Determine any shifts in attitudes or behaviors over time. Assess the expectations and issues that African-Americans and Whites face in their financial futures." (Ariel Mutual Funds/Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.)

West Virginia State Senator Now Says Public School Teacher Pension Changes Were Wrong
Excerpt: "All of the Northern Panhandle's representatives in the state Legislature voted in favor of House Bill 2984, but one of them now disagrees with the legislation. Statewide, all but three state senators and five delegates voted in favor of the bill to change the way public school educators' pensions are handled." (The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register)

McCrery Bill Roundup -- Bill Would Create Private Accounts Using Money from General Revenues
Excerpt: "U.S. Representative Jim McCrery of Louisiana recently introduced HR 3304, the Growing Real Ownership for Workers Act of 2005, a bill that would create private accounts using money from general revenues, while failing to address the solvency of the Social Security program. .... Under the proposed bill, all workers under age 55 would be automatically enrolled in a private account plan in which the total amount invested in the accounts would be equal to excess payroll taxes -- ...." (The Century Foundation)

Audio: Pension Fund Sues Morgan Stanley over Management and Severance Packages
Excerpt: "A pension fund that owns Morgan Stanley stock sues the company's board of directors along with its former chief executive and a co-president. The lawsuit alleges that gross mismanagement -- and massive severance packages to former top executives -- have cost Morgan Stanley stock owners millions of dollars." (Morning Edition via National Public Radio)

Opinion: Gutting Hewlett-Packard Pensions a Sad Sight
Excerpt: "If you're lucky enough to still have a pension plan, it's an endangered species after Tuesday's move by Hewlett-Packard. Buried in the details of a restructuring program cutting 14,500 jobs was a small reference to a decision by HP essentially dismantling its pension program to save $300 million a year. New employees won't get any pension, and many current employees will see their benefits shriveled by the time they reach retirement." (Mercury News via Myrtle Beach Online)

Research Report: Mutual Fund Family Fiduciary Rankings (tm)-- Data as of June 30, 2005 (PDF)
18 pages. Excerpt: "Fiduciary Analytics has completed its eighth consecutive quarterly research report on fund families that ranks them by the percentage of their individual funds that pass fiduciary due diligence screens. The research was prompted by the growing demand from investors for additional guidance on what to do when a fund family is implicated in a scandal." (Fiduciary Analytics via Fiduciary360)


Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

News Scan: News Summaries for Benefit Professionals in the Benefits Industry, July 2005 Issue (PDF)
8 pages. This issue covers the following: IRS Issues Proposed Regulations on Benefit Limits Under IRC 415; IRS Approves Statewide Retiree Health Care Trust Under IRC 115; MI Supreme Court Rules Retiree Health Care Not Protected by State Constitution; West Virginia Closes Defined Contribution Plan to New Hires; IRS Modifies FSA 'Use-It-or-Lose-It' Rule; North Dakota Legislation Regulates Pharmacy Benefit Managers; New Jersey Task Force to Recommend Retirement and Health Benefit Cost Controls. (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)

Deferred Compensation: Devising a Game Plan for Compliance with Section 409A (PDF)
Pages 21-26. Excerpt: "Deferred compensation plans must be amended to achieve compliance with the new rules by December 31, 2005, ...." (Compensation and Benefits Review via Miller & Chevalier)

Blog Posting: Think SERPs Make Sense? Look at Sandy Weill's Excessive SERP
Excerpt: "Citigroup's Sandy Weill is in the news about how the Citigroup board is negotiating hard to try to recoup some of the lucrative perks that would be given to Mr. Weill post-retirement in exchange for him being allowed to run a private equity fund and leave as Chair earlier than contracted ...." (TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog)

Opinion: A Tale of Two Classes in America -- The Working Class and the 'Executive' Class
Excerpt: "Sometimes the real character of social relations in the United States manages to find its way into pages of the American press. Such was the case in Tuesday's edition of the Wall Street Journal. The front page of the newspaper's Marketplace section featured two articles, which when combined give a sense of the class division that cuts across American society." (World Socia.list Web Site)


Newly Posted Events

Advanced Actuarial Conference
in Massachusetts on June 9, 2006
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Northeast Benefits Conference
in New York on June 7, 2005
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Northeast Benefits Conference
in New York on June 7, 2006
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Northeast Benefits Conference
in New York on June 7, 2006
presented by ASPPA & IRS

Northeast Benefits Conference
in Massachusetts on June 8, 2006
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Northeast Benefits Conference
in Massachusetts on June 8, 2006
presented by ASPPA & IRS

The 401(k) SUMMIT
in Florida on March 14, 2010
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)


Newly Posted Press Releases

Who is More Likely to Save: Men or Women?
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Thomas B. Travers Joins BPA as a Senior Claims Evaluator
(Benefit Plan Audit Services, LLC)

Long-Term Care: More Than a Health Issue; Planning for Long-Term Care Can Directly Impact Financial Well-Being In Retirement
(Prudential Financial, Inc.)

BasicPlus Vows to End Health Condition Discrimination
(BasicPlus Insurance Services, LLC)


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Contract Analyst
for Transamerica
in CA

Retirement Plan Sales Executive
for Ceridian
in CA, IL, OR, TX, WA, WI

401(k) Manager
for Established Midtown Pension Consulting and Investment Firm
in NY

Spending Account Shared Service Leader
for Hewitt Associates
in FL

Account Executive
for Transamerica
in MD

Plan Administrator
for The Pension Alliance, Inc.
in DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA

Account Manager
for Great-West Retirement Services
in FL

Account Relationship Managers
for Beneco, Inc.
in AZ, NY

Defined Benefit Client Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management LLC
in MA




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Editor and Publisher: David Rhett Baker, J.D.

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