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| July 11, 2007 |
Sponsored by: RELIUS Education - Seminars and Conferences for Pension Professionals
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| 2007 Chicago Advanced Pension Conference |
| Chicago, IL - September 5-7 with participating sponsor, The John Marshall Law School Great location. Hot topics. Our panel will discuss a myriad of important issues including new disclosure requirements for 401(k) fees and expenses, benefit statements, qualified default investment alternatives, final 415 regulations, cash balance plans, final 403(b) regulations, non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements under the final rules, and much more. The program also features two hours of "Ask the Experts," twelve concurrent sessions, and over 900 minutes of continuing education credits. Registration now available. Relius Education by SunGard. |
Pension Accounting Rule Changes Might Discourage Surpluses
Excerpt: "A press release from Mercer Human Resource Consulting warns that new guidance on how pension fund surpluses are treated on company balance sheets could have serious implications for the way employers view pension funding and investment risk and for how pension funds are invested in the future." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Retirement Income Adequacy After PPA and FAS 158: Plan Sponsors' Reactions (Part One) (PDF)
32 pages; July 2007. Excerpt: "This Issue Brief provides an overview of the major provisions of PPA and the pension accounting changes for single-employer defined benefit plans, as well as an explanation of the expected impact of each on plan sponsors. The results of the recent EBRI/Mercer Survey of Retirement Program Changes After PPA and New Accounting Rules are then summarized with a focus on those results that will be most important for determining retirement income adequacy in the post-PPA/FAS 158 era." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Quantitatively Material Error in FAS 158 Transition May Not Require Restatement, Says SEC
Excerpt: "Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have provided guidance, in the form of discussions with the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ)-- affiliated with the AICPA, on when companies must restate and amend prior filings for a common misapplication of the transition provisions of FASB Statement No. 158, 'Employer's Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans' (FAS 158). The SEC staff guidance was published in CAQ Alert 2007-30, 'Reexamining the Adoption of SFAS 158.'" (Financial Executives International)
GASB Seeks Survey Responses About Statements No. 25 and 27 on Governmental DB Plans
Excerpt: "GASB pension accounting and financial reporting standards were issued in November 1994 in Statement No. 25, Financial Reporting for Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Note Disclosures for Defined Benefit Plans, and Statement No. 27, Accounting for Pensions by State and Local Governmental Employers. The information asked for in this questionnaire will be helpful to the GASB in assessing the effectiveness of those Statements in contributing to the achievement of transparent financial reporting by state and local governments and pension plans and decision-useful information for users of their financial reports." (Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
Advice for Self-Directed Plan Participants About Investments: Know When to Hold 'Em
Excerpt: "[What] 401(k) investors need to hear is that the key to building retirement wealth is to buy and hold their investments, and investors want to change their investment allocation as their retirement horizon or life circumstances change, not in reaction to the market's mood swings. Here are some rarely-publicized statistics about the potential cost to a portfolio of a participant who tries to escape downdrafts and anticipate updrafts:" (BenefitNews.com)
Crackdown Looms for Pension Consultants
Excerpt: "The Department of Labor and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., are considering separate efforts to crack down on pension consultant conflicts of interests following a report by the Government Accountability Office that said undisclosed conflicts could be lowering pension fund investment returns. The key finding in the GAO report, which looked at 24 consultants, was that defined benefit plans using the 13 consultants that failed to disclose significant conflicts of interests had annual returns 1.3% lower than plans with 11 consultants that disclosed the conflicts." (Pensions&Investments)
San Diego City Attorney Proposes Settlement in Municipal Pension Lawsuit
Excerpt: "San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre has promised to drop his ongoing legal batter against $800 million in retirement benefits - but only under certain conditions. A San Diego Union-Tribune news report said Aguirre wants city retirees to forfeit a part of their benefits and San Diego taxpayers would have to agree to certain 'revenue enhancements'-- a tax increase . . . ." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
ERIC's Retirement Security Proposal Seem to be Met by Yawns
Excerpt: "While the New Benefit Platform for Life Security has much to recommend it, very little has been written about it and few in the benefits practitioner community seem to have noticed it." (Pension & Benefits Blog by BNA Advisory Board)
Customized Target-Date Portfolios Perhaps Better Than Target-Date Mutual Funds
Excerpt: "For large plan sponsors, those with $1 billion in their plans and 15,000 to 20,000 employees, one approach to consider is creating custom target-date funds based on their core investment fund lineup." (Workforce Management)
Study Finds Employees Who Aren't in Pension Plan Are More Likely to Leave Employers
Excerpt: "A news release from Cammack LaRhette Consulting said 20% of non-participants left the company while 9% of participants did so. The firm's 2006 study found a similar 25% to 10% ratio." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Sponsored by: ASC & The ASC Institute
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| Introducing Silver Support |
| Through ASCi's Document system, you can now ask experienced ERISA experts technical ERISA questions-- and get a response within a day. When regulatory questions come up in your day-to-day retirement plan practice you'll have ready access to the answers you need, providing valuable assistance to your practice and clients. For a small monthly fee, you can email the ASCi Consulting Team lead by Charles Lockwood, J.D., LL.M. and John Griffin, J.D., LL.M. and receive a quick response.
Sign up today! Simply download and complete the ASCi Silver Consulting Service Agreement and return to: ASCi, Attn: Silver Consulting Service, 18321 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 660, Tarzana, CA 91356. |
| (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
Section 409A Impact on Separation Pay Arrangements
Excerpt: "[S]eparation pay arrangements are often subject to Code Section 409A. A severance pay arrangement is automatically subject to Code Section 409A if the arrangement specifies a payment date or payment event that will or may occur after 2-1/2 months following the end of the year in which the termination occurred." (Gray Plant Mooty)
Opinion: Ideology Is Preventing Reform of Healthcare and Retirement Systems
Excerpt: "The consensus of employers, government officials, academics, health consumers, etc., for nearly 40 years has been that the health 'non-system' in the nation is broken and needs to be fixed. . . . The consensus on the need to 'fix' the retirement 'non-system' stretches the same 40-plus years . . . . The ideological divide over what 'reforms' should take place in either area has grown wider with each passing decade." (Human Resource Executive Online)
Newly Posted Events
20th Annual Benefits Management Forum & Expo
in Texas on September 16, 2007
presented by SourceMedia
Cash Balance Plan Design
Nationwide on July 19, 2007
presented by AccuDraft, Inc.
Determination Letter Applications In-Depth
Nationwide on August 9, 2007
presented by AccuDraft, Inc.
Health Care and the '08 Election: A Preview - Webcast
Nationwide on July 12, 2007
presented by KaiserNetwork.org
Introduction to Cash Balance Plans
Nationwide on July 12, 2007
presented by AccuDraft, Inc.
Online Form 5500 Software Refresher Course
Nationwide on July 18, 2007
presented by ftwilliam.com
Roth Contributions and Distributions Finalized
Nationwide on July 26, 2007
presented by AccuDraft, Inc.
The 20th Annual ERISA Litigation Conference
in California on October 11, 2007
presented by West Legalworks
Newly Posted Press Releases
Auto IRAs Could Jump Start Worker Savings: 48 Million Americans Could Benefit From Auto Enrollment Retirement Programs
AARP
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Judgment to Recover Nearly $1.2 Million for Miami-Based Employee Retirement Plan
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Benefits Essentials Wins 2007 APEX Award for Publication Excellence
vSimplify
Principal Financial Group to Ease Burden of Expected 403(b) Rule Changes
Principal Financial Group
Council to House Education and Labor Committee: H.R. 1424 Threatens Critical Federal Preemption Law
American Benefits Council
Poor Employee Health Costlier Than Employers Think
National Pharmaceutical Council
Office-Based Positions Lead Dry Eye Hot Jobs: National Listing Unveils Job Categories That Can Aggravate a Condition Affecting More Than 20 Million Americans
National Women's Health Resource Center
Employees Get New Tasty Benefit Through Executive Chef Program
Executive Chef
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Retirement Compliance Testing Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Benefits Consultant
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia
in GA
Internal Service Representative
for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia
in GA
Defined Benefit Administration Software Consultant
for Winklevoss Technologies
in CT
Regional Client Service Consultant
for StanCorp Equities Inc.
in CA
Regional Client Service Consultant
for StanCorp Equities Inc.
in TX
Regional Client Service Consultant
for StanCorp Equities Inc.
in CO
Regional Client Service Consultant
for StanCorp Equities Inc.
in OR
Junior Key Account Manager
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in CA
Implementation Specialist (Enroller)
for SunGard ProNvest
in CA, GA
Sales & Marketing - Vice President (VP)
for Raymond James Financial, Inc.
in FL
401(k) Recordkeeping Specialist
for NRECA
in VA
Retirement Plan Consultant
for CDM Retirement Consultants, Inc.
in MD
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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