BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter for March 15, 2007

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Retirement Plans
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March 15, 2007

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PBGC Booklet: Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & QDRO
Excerpt: "This edition of PBGC's booklet on domestic relations orders revises the guidance and model forms published in December 2003. Most of the revisions are the result of PBGC's operating experience and made to PBGC's benefit payment rules . . . ." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)

PBGC Updates Divorce Orders Publication, 'Qualified Domestic Relations Orders & PBGC'
Excerpt: "The revised booklet . . . presents information on benefit options now offered by the PBGC as well as new model orders, such as a model order for providing child support. It also clarifies rules on when payments to an alternate payee may start. It revises the guidance and model forms published in December 2003." (Kaiser Family Foundation)

American Benefits Council Amicus Brief in Drutis v. Rand McNally & Co. re: Cash Balance Plan (PDF)
43 pages. (American Benefits Council)

DC Plan Menu Shifts Draw Greater Focus on Transition Planning
Excerpt: "It is tempting to think a 401(k) transition would be a simple switch: just selling out all the shares of the old, 'legacy' investment option, and using the cash to buy in to the new target -- that is, in fact, the way things were done in the 'good old days.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Benefits Groups Urge Congress to Exercise Caution in Addressing Disclosure of 401(k) Plan Fees
Excerpt: "from Spencer's Benefits Reports: Caution in addressing 401(k) plan fee disclosure and the uniform presentation of information were some of the recommendations made in testimony at a March 6 hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee by the American Benefits Council and the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Analyst Expects DC Participant Contributions to Double by 2011
Excerpt: "Total participant contributions to defined contribution plans are expected to double over the next four years, TowerGroup senior analyst Peter Delano said in a press release." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Varieties of Employee Ownership: Some Unintended Consequences of Corporate Law and Labor Law
42 pages. Excerpt: "Theories of employee ownership implicitly assume that its essential features are the same in all countries. In fact, employee ownership varies considerably across institutional environments. In this paper, I compare its development in the United States, Germany, and Sweden to show that the institutional background - in particular, the existing bodies of corporate and labor law - against which a program of employee ownership arises determines its course." (Aditi Bagchi)

It's a Good Time for a Fiduciary Review
Excerpt: "In order to make sure your plan is not the next one under plaintiff's counsel's microscope, it is a good idea to review periodically the plan's fiduciary governance structure and procedures." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

South Dakota Retirement System Tries a New Approach to Passive Investing
Excerpt: "In December 2004, the fund changed its course and made the move to passive investing. The system transferred $100 million from S&P 500 futures to a Research Affiliates LLC Fundamental Index (RAFI) fund. However, the RAFI fund is not like traditional passive invested funds that weight investments based on market capitalization. Instead, it uses a new method of passive investing, known as fundamental indexing, proposed by Research Affiliates in Pasadena, California." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Kentucky Legislature Breaks without Reconciling Pension Bill
Excerpt: "The Kentucky legislature ended its session Tuesday without pushing through a piece of pension legislation that some lawmakers say is needed now to fend off future problems, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Text: Publication 590 - Individual Retirement Arrangements - for Use in Preparing 2006 Returns (PDF)
107 pages. (Internal Revenue Service)

CalPERS Cites 11 Companies on Governance and Performance
Excerpt: "CalPERS, the biggest U.S. pension fund, singled out Marsh & McLennan Cos., Eli Lilly & Co. and nine more companies as failing in corporate governance and financial performance." (Bloomberg)

What Pension Reform Act Guidelines Mean for Small-Business Owners and Their Employees
Excerpt: "'The pension reform act was passed to help companies boost plan participation and do right by their employees,' says Paul Bracaglia, investment advisory partner with PCS. 'The lack of knowledge regarding the new guidelines means that companies are not taking advantage of the opportunity to provide employees with the best options available to help them save for retirement.'" (MSNBC.com)

Pensions and Global Warming?
Excerpt: "In a keynote address entitled 'Global pensions and investment challenges,' Gore said a greater emphasis on sustainable practices would boost pension fund returns." (Workplace Prof Blog)

GM Reallocates Assets to Protect Pension Funds
Excerpt: "In an effort to preserve the assets of its overfunded pension plans, General Motors Corp. (GM) announced it was reallocating 20% of those assets from stocks to bonds." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Pension Funds Must Heed Climate Change, According to Gore
Excerpt: "Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore told a pensions conference on Wednesday that trustees must include the 'greatest challenge to mankind' in their thinking -- global warming." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Sponsored by: ASPPA

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Advanced Actuarial Conference -- Boston, MA, June 5-6, 2007

Designed by practicing pension actuaries specifically to address their unique and specialized needs, this conference covers a wide variety of current and timely issues. Workshops and general sessions will be dedicated to topics including PPA, Future DB Policy Initiatives, Yield Curve, RP 2000 Mortality Tables and Hybrid Plans. Join your fellow pension actuary colleagues at this one of a kind event.

(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

Could Tomorrow Be ERISA Day at the Supreme Court?
Excerpt: "SCOTUSblog is tracking those cases that have a reasonable chance of having cert. being granted at the Supreme Court's March 16th conference. Among them are two interesting ERISA cases from different parts of the employee benefit world . . . ." (Workplace Prof Blog)

Legislative Curtailment of Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Imminent? (PDF)
Pages 1-4 of 9 pages. Excerpt: "A plan sponsor may be legally required to pay an executive an amount that is subject to Section 409A that vests after January 1, 2007, such as severance payments due upon a future involuntary termination." (Trucker Huss)

Overview: IRS Focus on Tax-Exempt Organization Compensation
Excerpt: "On March 1, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its long-awaited report on compensation paid and benefits provided by tax-exempt organizations to their executives and directors. The report reveals that the IRS sent compliance check letters to approximately 2,000 exempt organizations in two separate projects." (McDermott Will & Emery)

Opinion: SEC's Cox Turns Executive Pay Into Hieroglyphics
Excerpt: "It's really amazing how the Securities and Exchange Commission achieved the opposite of what it intended when setting out to make reported executive compensation easier to understand. Blame it on the agency's kowtowing to the business community and efforts to adopt rules that created disclosure discrepancies where none existed before." (Bloomberg)

Current ERISA Developments Issued in 2007
Excerpt: "The [target page] tracks important guidance that has been released since January 1, 2007." (Cyber FX Communications and TRI Pension Services)

GM To Seek Reduced Health Care and Pension Costs from Unions
Excerpt: "In its annual report, GM says it intends 'to pursue our cost-reduction goals vigorously in negotiating' after its current contract with the United Auto Workers expires in September." (WREX TV)

Newly Posted Events

Annual Spring Employee Benefits Law and Practice Update - Webcast
Nationwide on April 10, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

COBRA for Rookies -- The Basics, With Play-by-Play Commentary
Nationwide on March 8, 2007
presented by Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc. (EBIA)

Ethics/Attorney-Client Privilege Update; In-Depth Analysis of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) - Webcast
Nationwide on March 28, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Newly Posted Press Releases

State Governments Positioned To Advance Price Transparency In Health Care, According To A New Deloitte Report
Deloitte

Sickday Medical House Calls Launches Same-Day Medical Service
Sickday Medical House Calls

Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings

Manager, Defined Contribution Client Consultant Team, Core/Large Market
for Prudential Retirement
in IA

Vice President of Strategic Distribution Initiatives
for CitiStreet
in NJ

Client Service Representative - Consultant
for Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
in NE

Senior Communications Development Account Manager
for New York Life Investment Management - Retirement Plans Services
in MA

Team Manager - Client Services
for Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
in NE

Relationship Manager
for Vanguard
in AZ

Retirement Plan Consultant
for Standard Insurance Company
in WA

Senior Defined Contribution Administrator/Consultant
for The Benefit Practice
in CT

Compliance Specialist - Defined Benefits
for MassMutual Financial Group
in MA

Compliance Officer
for 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds
in NY

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