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| July 17, 2007 |
Sponsored by: ASPPA and WP&BC
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| The Western Benefits Conference - July 22-25, 2007 |
| Benefits by the Bay, the best of two in one! Jointly sponsored by WP&BC and ASPPA, this conference has been designed with all retirement professionals in mind. Seven industry specific targeted learning tracks, the latest market trends, compliance issues and networking opportunities await. Get early bird registration discounts and learn more at www.asppa.org/wbc or www.westernpension.org |
RIAs Gaining in Market for Small 401(k)s
Excerpt: "Registered investment advisers are the fastest-growing distribution channel for mutual-fund-based small-business 401(k)s. Starting from a small base, they are adding assets at the rate of about 14% a year, according to Boston-based Financial Research Corp." (Investment News; free registration required)
Retirement Plan Option of Target Funds Becoming Popular - Measuring Them Has Become a Conundrum
Excerpt: "The adoption of target-date funds has outpaced the development of practices for evaluating them, investment consultants say. Given the big disparities that exist in the asset allocation of funds with similar maturities, as well as differences in the funds' investment decisions, the methods used to judge other mutual funds -- measuring their performance against a benchmark or against their peers -- are less useful with target-date funds." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Lawsuit Says Teachers Are Overcharged on Annuities
Excerpt: "A lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Washington State contends that the National Education Association breached its duty to members by accepting millions of dollars in payments from two financial firms whose high-cost investments it recommended to members in an association-sponsored retirement plan." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Retirement Savings Plans for Nonprofit Organizations About to Undergo Overhaul
Excerpt: "The goal is to make voluntary, tax-deferred 403(b)s more like 401(k)s in the for-profit world, where employers have a fiduciary duty to offer a diverse selection of investments with reasonable fees. As proposed, the IRS regulations don't go that far." (The Baltimore Sun)
Issue Brief: An Annuity People Might Actually Buy
Excerpt: "This brief evaluates a proposal for an innovative annuity product -- the Advanced Life Deferred Annuity (ALDA). The ALDA is an annuity that would be purchased at retirement, or even earlier, but the associated payments would not start until some advanced age, (say) 75, 85, or 90. The long deferral period would result in a very inexpensive product." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Employee Ownership Update for July 16, 2007
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses OMB estimates of the tax cost of ESOPs; the SEC's proposal to exclude option holders from the 500-shareholder threshold for compliance with certain registration requirements; a proposal to buy the Dow Jones Company using an ESOP as part of the transaction; employee ownership in Bangladesh; and employee ownership plans that have just been introduced at three of South Africa's largest companies. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Thrift Savings Plan Urges Congress to Back Two Legislative Proposals
Excerpt: "The board that oversees the federal employee Thrift Savings Plan has sent two new proposals to Congress, urging lawmakers to adopt legislation that would allow automatic employee enrollment and change the default fund for indecisive investors." (GovExec.com)
Automatic Contribution Arrangements in Governmental DC Plans (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt: "How does one know if an automatic contribution arrangement is right for a particular plan? This article explains automatic contribution arrangements and offers key points to consider when determining if such an arrangement is the right way to go." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
Audio and Text: Retirement Saving Needs a Whole New Look
Excerpt: "It wasn't so long ago that the idea of a company pension didn't exist, points out business historian John Steele Gordon. He says the current pension system is tailored to a mid-century workforce and it no longer fits." (American Public Media)
Issue Brief: Women and Social Security (PDF)
8 pages. Excerpt: "This issue brief discusses the relative differences in the factors affecting men and women . . . as well as how these differences contribute to disparate benefits under Social Security. This includes the impact on the average woman of (a) social adequacy provisions of the current Social Security program and (b) various proposals to reform Social Security, including individual accounts." (American Academy of Actuaries)
Overview: IRS Rules That 20% Turnover Rate Creates Presumption of Partial Termination
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: Over the years, the benefits community has struggled with the facts and circumstances standard for determining partial terminations. In this ruling, the IRS has adopted the 20% turnover presumption, which has long been the unofficial rule-of-thumb." (Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)
EBRI Notes Article: Experts Track Continuing Evolution of U.S. Pension System (PDF)
Pages 2-8 of 12. Excerpt: "Experts anticipate more changes ahead for the U.S. pension system as a result of legislative and regulatory activity last year. The article recaps the experts' reactions -- at EBRI's spring 2007 policy forum in Washington, DC -- to major developments in the pension world . . . ." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Overview: Final Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (409A) Regulations -- Focus on SERPs
Excerpt: "In this article we are going to focus only on the application of these new rules to retirement plans, which from now on we're just going to call SERPs. (SERP stands for supplemental executive retirement plan, and while, technically, there are a variety of nonqualified deferred compensation plans besides SERPs that provide retirement benefits, a lot of people use the term SERP to stand for any nonqualified retirement plan.)" (Southern Employee Benefits Conference)
Overview: IRS Explains Tax Consequences of Nonqualified Trust Benefiting HCEs
Excerpt: "The ruling discusses in detail the tax consequences to the employees, the employer, and the trust of contributions to the trust, the vesting of an employee's interest in the trust, employment tax treatment of wages paid to employees, income tax withholding, and distributions from the trust." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
New Tax Loophole May Open a Pandora's Box for Executive Pay
Excerpt: "Lawmakers like Barney Frank and Charles Grassley have been eager to overhaul the infamous tax rule known as Section 162(m), which was intended to rein in executive pay but has arguably had the reverse effect of ballooning compensation for top officers. Now the Internal Revenue Service may have given them that chance." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Newly Posted Events
Avoiding Pitfalls and Costly Mistakes in Your H&W Plan
in New York on July 25, 2007
presented by New York Metropolitan Area Chapter - ISCEBS
Online Seminar - PPA 2006 Single Employer Rules
Nationwide on July 1, 2007
presented by Software Polish
Salaries, Perks, Pensions, and Benefits: SEC Historical Society Offers Perspective on New SEC Rules to Report CEO Compensation - Webcast
Nationwide on July 18, 2007
presented by Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society
Newly Posted Press Releases
PBGC Protects Tom's Foods Inc. Pension Plan
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
PBGC Assumes Scotty's Inc. Pension Plan
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Benefit Software Facilitates Compliance with Delivery Requirements for Electronic Employer Notices
Benefit Software Inc.
Workplace Options Offers 24-Hour Call Center Services to EAP and Behavioral Healthcare Customers
Workplace Options
DFW Value-Driven Health Care Collaborative Launched for Treatment of Diabetes
Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group on Health
One in Two Americans Struggle with Clinical Depression. Employee Assistance Programs Can Help.
The Hartford
New, Simplified Tools Announced for Health & Productivity Business Case
Midwest Business Group on Health
Wachovia Launches New Retirement Income Program
Wachovia Corporation
Collective Funds the Future of 401ks?
AST Capital Trust Company
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Account Executive, Group Benefits
for Lenox Advisors
in NY
Account Representative
for RSM McGladrey Retirement Resources
in IL
Account Manager
for Cobbs Allen & Hall of Georgia
in GA
Client Service/Relationship Professional
for Sawgrass Asset Management, LLC
in FL
Senior Retirement Plan Analyst
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Account Manager - Retirement Plans
for Standard Insurance Company
in MA
Account Manager - Retirement Plans
for Standard Insurance Company
in ME
Client Service Consultant - Regional
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Compliance Analyst (Annuity Product Filing)
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Nurse Case Manager
for Standard Insurance Company
in OR
Account Manager - Retirement Plans
for Standard Insurance Company
in CA
Sales Administrative Coordinator
for Standard Insurance Company
in CA
Application Analyst OmniPlus
for Professional Computer Resources, Inc.
in NC
Associate Attorney
for Song Mondress PLLC
in WA
Compliance Specialist
for Heartland Financial USA / Dubuque Bank & Trust
in IA
Administrator/Consultant
for Benefit Plans Plus, L.L.C.
in MO
Administrative Assistant
for Benefit Plans Plus, L.L.C.
in MO
401(k) / ESOP Plan Analyst and Consultant
for RPAS, Ltd.
in VA
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
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