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April 16, 2007


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Defined Contribution Plan Amendment Chart from the GUST Document to Before PPA
Chart updated April 13, 2007. (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Overview: PPA Plan Termination Amendment
Excerpt: "Terminating plans are required to be amended for all relevant law and regulation updates in effect as of their termination date. This requirement, which has applied since 1987, was imposed because such plans may not be in existence on the date when the actual amendments must be adopted by on-going plans. The enactment of the Pension Protection Act during the current EGTRRA remedial amendment period for restating qualified plans raises many questions for interim compliance." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Investors and Retirement Plan Savers Warned Not to Overdo Investment in ETFs
Excerpt: "Investment firms are pitching employers on more exchange-traded funds, target-maturity funds, annuities and index funds based on new benchmarks as competitors vie for the $2.4 trillion 401(k) market." (The Baltimore Sun; free registration required)

401(k) Investment Options Should Be Reviewed by Participants
Excerpt: "Attention, retirement savers: Your 401(k) menu may be changing. Investment firms are pitching employers on more exchange-traded funds, target-maturity funds, annuities and index funds based on new benchmarks as competitors vie for the $2.4 trillion 401(k) market." (Chicago Tribune; free registration required)

401(k) Plans May Look Like Pensions If Employers Take Guesswork Out
Excerpt: "Some automatically enroll employees instead of waiting for them to sign up. Many supply workers with advice or have added no-fuss funds to take the guesswork out of investing. Others offer retiring workers the option of buying an annuity with 401(k) money so they have an income stream for life, as with a traditional pension." (Centre Daily Times)

SEC Turning its Attention to 12b-1 and 401(k) Disclosures
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this year plans to turn its attention to the fees paid, and how they are disclosed to 401(k) plan investors." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

2007 Retirement Plan Advisors of the Year (PDF)
16 pages. Excerpt: "The Awards: PLANSPONSOR's Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year is designed to recognize 'the contributions of the nation's best financial advisers -- and adviser teams -- in helping make retirement security a reality for workers across the nation.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Keller Rohrback Targets 403(b) Program
Excerpt: "A well-known ERISA litigation firm has turned its attention to the 403(b) market. Seattle-based Keller Rohrback L.L.P. . . . announced that it is investigating the National Education Association (NEA) Valuebuilder 403(b) variable annuity plan." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

New Jersey Lawmaker Calls Dedicated Revenue a Good Idea -- Pay-As-You-Go Pension Benefits
Excerpt: "To restrain the runaway growth of New Jersey pension obligations, the state should tie future increases in worker benefits to a dedicated revenue source. That proposal was put forward last week by Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) . . . ." (Journal Publications Inc.)

Anchor Hocking Workers' Pensions Will Be Reduced
Excerpt: "Anchor Hocking workers in Lancaster will receive less money from their pensions as part of a deal to sell the company -- and because the previous owner didn't adequately fund the plan." (The Columbus Dispatch)

Overview on What Is a Reasonable Rate of Interest for Participant Loans?
Excerpt: "Note: Neither DOL nor IRS has required the adoption of a floating rate to satisfy the reasonable rate requirement. We suggest proceeding with caution when the DOL and the IRS do not agree on the same rules." (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

Code Section 415 Final Regulations Include Modifications to Post-Severance Rules
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: These final regulations are lengthy and detailed, covering the limitation rules for both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. In addition to the rules highlighted here, many other provisions may apply to 401(k) plans, including special rules for multiemployer, multiple employer, tax-exempt employer, governmental, and church plans, and plan disqualification rules for violations of the Code Section 415 limitations." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

New Labor Department Rules Allow QDROs Issued After Participant's Death (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt: "The Department of Labor has issued new regulations, effective April 6, 2007, which clarify certain issues relating to domestic relations orders under ERISA." (Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

ESOPs in Mergers and Acquisitions: Wave of the Future?
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the place of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in merger and acquisitions transactions. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Opinion: What's Right with Public Pensions
Excerpt: "There is a lot to be said for a defined-benefit plan if it is operated on a sustainable basis. That's easier said than done, of course, but let's start with three cornerstone advantages . . . ." (Girard Miller via Governing.com)

Review of the WSJ Opinion Piece, The Real Threat to 'Social Europe'
Excerpt: "The urgent need for pension reform in Europe has steadily climbed up the political agenda. But the initiatives taken so far, including moves to raise the retirement age, can only be considered a first step if they are to avoid a demographic disaster, says Hans Martens, chief executive of the European Policy Center." (National Center for Policy Analysis)

Global Retirement Update, April 2007 (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "Hewitt's monthly reports summarize retirement and financial management legislative developments and trends from around the world." (Hewitt Associates)


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

ERISA Plan Must Consider Mailbox Rule in Resolving Dispute about Receipt of Required Paperwork
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Disputes about receipt of paperwork arise in many situations, and the reasoning of this decision could apply with equal force to health and welfare plan enrollment forms or forms under a plan's claims procedures, among others. Outside the COBRA context (where the DOL has expressly adopted the 'received-upon-mailing' rule for COBRA elections and premium payments), ERISA does not impose particular procedures for determining the timeliness of required paperwork." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Hospitals Craft Packages for Wealthy Executives
Excerpt: "Known as executive physicals, these services combine cutting-edge medical diagnostics with hours of personal attention from teams of specialists. The examinations usually involve blood work, treadmill stress tests, hearing and vision exams, and body composition analysis." (Rocky Mountain News)

Final 409A Regulations Include Important Modifications and Clarifications
Excerpt: "As many in the benefits community continue slogging through the 398-page release of the final 409A regulations, one analysis suggested it did not depart from the basic design and approach regulators took in the regulations' preliminary form." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

Executive Remuneration Perspective: A Responsible Executive Pay Peer Group Selection Guide
Excerpt: "This Perspective outlines the factors that support effective peer group selection for pay evaluation and recommends key considerations for developing an appropriate and defensible peer group. When done right, peer group selection can become a foundation of compensation evaluation, grounding executive pay decisions in fact-based data and providing insight into external practices." (Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC and Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.; free registration required)

A Brief Review of New Benefits Bills In Congress
Excerpt: "from Spencer's Benefits Reports: Between March 29 and April 6, [several] benefits-related bills were introduced in Congress." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Hewitt Global Report: European Monthly Legislative Update (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "[Hewitt's] monthly updates summarize recent legislative activity in Europe, by country, for the following issues: labor environment, cost of employment, employment terms and conditions, retirement and social security, health care system, taxation of compensation and benefits, and issues for expatriate employees." (Hewitt Associates)

Overview of DOL Enforcement Litigation Year to Date
The Department of Labor reports these enforcement actions for 2007 thus far. (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

Recent Graduates Looking at Benefits Packages That Come with New Jobs
Excerpt: "When you're looking for that first post-degree job, the tendency is to focus on salary in deciding which offer to take. But salary is just one piece of the financial package. A job with a lower salary may be worth more than a job with a higher salary because of medical, retirement and other benefits." (The Washington Post; free registration required)


Newly Posted Events

Final 409A Regulations Teleconference Series
Nationwide on April 19, 2007
presented by Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

Final 409A Regulations Teleconference Series
Nationwide on May 3, 2007
presented by Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

Final 409A Regulations Teleconference Series
Nationwide on May 10, 2007
presented by Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

Section 409A Final Regulations: Advising Clients on the Final Rules for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans
Nationwide on May 14, 2007
presented by ALI-ABA (American Law Institute-American Bar Association)

Section 409A: Final Regulations
in California on April 18, 2007
presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference, San Francisco Chapter


Newly Posted Press Releases

The Canada Pension Plan - A Model for Social Security Reform?
AARP


Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Post a Help Wanted Ad

401k Conversion Implementation Project Manager
for Fidelity Investments
in KY, MA, TX

Director, Testing & Reporting Services
for Fidelity Investments
in KY, TX

Employee Benefits Associate
for Poyner & Spruill LLP
in NC

Assistant Director of Compensation and Benefits
for Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Mau LLP
in IL

Participant Services Representative
for Sentinel Benefits Group, Inc.
in MA

Manager, Benefit Communications and Training
for Reed Elsevier
in NY

Senior Product Analyst
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA

Daily Record Keeping Specialist
for AKT Retirement Plan Services LLC
in OR




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