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March 1, 2007


Sponsored by: DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

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Banner ad for DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Software for DC/401(k) Plan Administration

DATAIR's IMPROVED BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION SOFTWARE for 401(k), Profit Sharing and all other Defined Contribution plans. Designed for administrators and consultants.

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Advisory Opinion 2007-02A on Certain Pooled Investment Funds That Are Deemed to Hold Plan Assets
Excerpt: "[The DOL was asked w]hether the 10% test applicable to pooled investment vehicles under the QPAM class exemption (84-14) does not require consideration of any underlying plan investors in a pooled fund investing in another pooled fund." (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Making Employer Stock Safe for Your 401(k) Plan: Managing the Risk
Excerpt: "Just as disappointed public shareholders bring federal securities-fraud lawsuits when they suffer investment losses, ERISA plan participants litigate when they think plan fiduciaries have done bad things. Litigating cases involving a drop in the price of employer stock held by employee benefit plans is different from securities-fraud lawsuits. There are different types of stock plans, different legal standards, different procedural considerations, and different types of discovery." (Jones Day)

Economic Analysis in ERISA Class Actions Involving Employee Investments in Company Stock (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "In this article, the author discusses the similarities and differences between such ERISA class actions and federal securities class actions alleging securities fraud. This article also covers economic methodologies that can be employed to analyze ERISA class action allegations." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Overview: PBGC Guidance on Effect of IRS Mortality Tables on Premium Calculations
Excerpt: "The PBGC has issued a technical update providing guidance on how recently issued IRS mortality tables . . . will impact premium calculations and PBGC reporting requirements for defined benefit plans under ERISA §4010 and ERISA §4043." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Analysis: Two Cash Balance Decisions Announced at the End of January, Both in the 3rd Circuit (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Neither was apparently written with the benefit of having seen the other's opinion, but the cases arrived at remarkably similar conclusions, both dismissing age discrimination (and other) claims against cash balance plans launched by plan participants . . . ." (A.D. Lurie via Workplace Prof Blog)

Overview: Correcting Defined Benefit Plan Excess Payments Resulting from PPA Interest Rate Change (PDF)
Excerpt: "Effective for distributions made in plan years beginning after December 31, 2005, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) requires plans to use an interest rate assumption for purposes of determining the maximum benefit payable in a lump sum payment that is the greatest of: 5.5%; The rate that produces a benefit of not more than 105% of the benefit calculated using the minimum value lump sum interest rate; or The interest rate specified in the plan." (Prudential Retirement)

Overview on Notice to Defer Distribution: January 1, 2007 Effective Date for Calendar Year Plans
Excerpt: "For fiscal year plans, the requirement is effective on the first day of the fiscal year beginning after January 1, 2007." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)

Widening Gap Between Public and Private Pensions
Excerpt: "The recent headline in USA Today said what an increasing number of taxpayers are thinking: 'More and more retirees are finding that it pays to have worked for the government instead of the private sector.'" (The Salem News)

Retirement Coverage in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Excerpt: "In this article, Mercer explores the retirement systems, legislative updates and market trends of Southeast Asian countries." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; free registration required)

Fund Firms Take New Approach to Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "'We're seeing a lot of companies that used to focus almost solely on mutual funds start to make more moves into the institutional side of the market,' said Karen Remmele, . . . Cerulli Associates, which tracks asset managers. The result is that investors in coming years can expect to find more alternative types of funds in their retirement plans. These include different types of hard assets such as commodities and real estate, as well as greater use of hedge-like strategies." (MarketWatch.com via Human Resource Executive Online; free registration required)

Call for Authors for Lurie's New Treatise on the Federal Income Taxation of Pensions
Excerpt: "Alvin Lurie writes to tell us that he will be the general editor of a forthcoming publication of a new treatise on the federal income taxation of pensions and other 'qualified' or nonqualified retirement arrangements, by a major legal publisher, shooting for publication in late 2007." (Workplace Prof Blog)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated as of February 27, 2007, for Retirement Plans (PDF)
3 pages. This Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding retirement plans. (Hewitt Associates)

ETF Frenzy Echoes Era of Dot-Coms
Excerpt: "The market for exchange-traded funds looks suspiciously like the 'let's take it public' days of the dot-com mania at the end of the 1990s. Exchange-traded funds are index-based products that allow you to buy shares in a portfolio of securities. Like index mutual funds, they can own large pieces of markets or a small slice." (Bloomberg News via Twincities.com)

Global Retirement Perspective - Pension Protection Act of 2006: The Dust Is Settling
Excerpt: "The first step in absorbing these changes is to understand their impact on plan provisions, plan sponsors, employees and other interested parties. The most visible effect of the new funding rules will be on the sponsor's cash contribution requirements, but the legislation will also affect how benefits may be provided to participants in poorly funded plans and to certain executives of organizations sponsoring those plans." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; free registration required)

Calibrating Your Retirement Account Funding Needs
Excerpt: "A recent New York Times article raised the possibility that some workers were unnecessarily constraining their youth so they could throw all of their money at their 401(k) accounts. There might be a grain of truth in that." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)


Sponsored by: Mid-Sized Pension Management Conference

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Banner ad for Mid-Sized Pension Management Conference

A View from the Top

Reaching the Pinnacle of Success in Retirement Plan Management

Is your retirement plan facing an uphill battle? The tough terrain plan sponsors already face -- regulatory concerns, plan design issues and fiduciary pitfalls -- has gotten even more difficult with the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Now, more than ever, employers need a plan to navigate the new administrative peaks and valleys. Make attending the 2007 Mid-Sized Pension Management Conference, March 11-14 in San Francisco, part of your plan to conquer the challenges ahead.


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

Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General

Testimony: Some Best Practices and Strategies for Engaging and Retaining Older Workers
17 pages. Excerpt: "This testimony highlights issues discussed at a recent forum GAO convened on engaging and retaining older workers, as well as prior GAO work. [Highlights are at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07433thigh.pdf.]" (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

Goodyear Ends Pensions and Raises Retirees' Health Costs
Excerpt: "Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., North America's biggest tiremaker, will scrap its pension program for current workers and raise retiree health-care payments to save as much as $90 million annually." (Bloomberg)

Proxy Season Reminders: Section 162(m) and Executive Compensation (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt: "As publicly traded companies prepare their 2007 proxy statements and set the parameters for 2007 executive compensation, several issues arise in connection with section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code)." (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP)

How Safe Are Federal Worker Benefits? Don't Answer Too Fast
Excerpt: "Uncle Sam needs money. Where is it going to come from? A few billion in savings could come by reducing federal benefits according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)" (FedSmith Inc.)

Reducing Benefits for Federal Employees and Retirees Is Being Considered to Reduce U.S. Deficit
Excerpt: "Congressional number crunchers have released their most recent ideas for decreasing the country's deficit. . . . Many of the ideas from the Congressional Budget Office's February 2007 Budget Options book are recycled, and haven't made it anywhere near being enacted in the past." (GovExec.com)

Chrysler Begins Round of Buyouts
Excerpt: "Chrysler Group and the United Auto Workers union said Wednesday that they had reached agreement on a buyout and early-retirement plan aimed at helping the ailing automaker slash 9,000 hourly jobs from its U.S. payroll." (Los Angeles Times; free registration required)

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- Human Resources -- Updated February 27, 2007 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)

Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide for February 27, 2007, on Human Resources & Employment Law (PDF)
6 pages. This Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding human resources and employment law. (Hewitt Associates)

Bernanke Renews Call for Action as Population Ages
Excerpt: "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke renewed a warning to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that failure to take action soon to prepare for the retirement of aging Baby Boomers could lead to serious economic harm." (Reuters via The New York Times; free registration required)


Newly Posted Events

Health Care: Priorities in the 110th Congress - Webcast
Nationwide on March 1, 2007
presented by KaiserNetwork.org

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 13, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Washington on March 13, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in California on March 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 14, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in California on March 15, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Georgia on March 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in South Carolina on March 20, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Florida on March 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Georgia on March 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 21, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Texas on March 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Georgia on March 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Journey deep into the world of IRAs
in Florida on March 22, 2007
presented by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services


Newly Posted Press Releases

National Employee Benefits Day to Feature Free Webcast on Financial Literacy
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Unum Expands Buyers Study, Profiles Benefit Trends in Nine Industries
Unum

CoAdvantage Launches New Employee Perks Program
CoAdvantage


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

Attorney - Assistant General Counsel In House
for 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds
in NY

Client Relations Manager
for ING, Financial Services
in IN

Account Mgr-RP
for The Standard Insurance Company
in OR

Vice President, Core Market Sales
for CitiStreet
in ANY STATE

Pension Administration
for Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, Inc.
in NJ

Retirement / Benefits Consultant
for Weaver and Tidwell L.L.P.
in TX

Sr. Compliance Analyst
for Principal Financial Group
in IA

Associate Consultant/Personalized Communications
for The Segal Company
in NY




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