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| August 1, 2007 |
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| 2007 Chicago Advanced Pension Conference |
| Chicago, IL - September 5-7 with participating sponsor, The John Marshall Law School Leading ERISA experts present the most current analysis of new legislative and regulatory guidance. Hot topics include: plan amendments, service provider liability, cash balance plans, the final 403(b) regulations, final Roth regulations, cash balance plans, benefit statements, a DOL update including PPA '06 guidance, and more. Include two hours of "Ask the Experts," concurrent sessions, "Pension Jeopardy," and over 900 minutes of continuing education credits for a program you should not miss. Join us and get ready for the challenge. Relius Education by SunGard. |
401(k) Fee Disclosure Could Change Market
Excerpt: "Meaningful 401(k) fee disclosure is necessary, but the industry must be careful not to inundate employees with information and deter them from saving for retirement, according to experts from the American Benefits Council." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
Associations Call for Clarity in 401(k) Fee Disclosures
Excerpt: "The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is part of a group of 12 associations that submitted recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to improve the disclosure of information to retirement savings plan participants." (Society for Human Resource Management)
Managed Accounts: A New Direction for 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "A major factor in employees' decision to use managed accounts will be the fees charged for this service, which are generally paid by employees out of their plan assets. For that reason, plan sponsors should make sure the fees are in line with what the market is offering." (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
Stable Value QDIAs Draw Concerns
Excerpt: "The current lobbying battle to get stable value options listed as approved default investment options aside, Susan Walton thinks making the addition would be a very bad idea." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Court Denies Reimbursement of Losses from 401(k) Withdrawal Delay
Excerpt: "The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas has denied a former 401(k) participant's request to be reimbursed for losses to her account that occurred between the time she requested a distribution and the time her account balance was rolled over, saying she was still employed." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Issue Brief: 401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2006 (PDF)
40 pages. Excerpt: "The report is divided into five sections: The first describes the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database; the second focuses on changes in participant account balances over time, analyzing a group of consistent 401(k) participants; the third presents a snapshot of participant account balances at year-end 2006; the fourth looks at participants' asset allocations; and the fifth looks at participants' 401(k) loan activity." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)
Overview: Final 403(b) Regulations
Excerpt: "Three and a half years after the publication of the proposed rules, the Treasury Department released final, comprehensive regulations governing retirement plans offered by nonprofit, governmental and church organizations under Internal Revenue Code Section 403(b)." (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP)
Judge to Rule on Oneida PBGC Dispute Arising from Bankrup.tcy
Excerpt: "A judge will decide if Oneida Ltd., which emerged from bankrup.tcy last year after walking away from a pension plan covering nearly 1,900 workers and retirees, must pay millions of dollars in 'termination fees' to the government's pension insurer." (AP via Forbes.com)
Tower Automotive Exits Bankrup.tcy with Pension Intact
Excerpt: "Tower Automotive's financial difficulties and bankrup.tcy aren't that unusual a story in the auto parts industry these days. What is notable, though, is that the company's defined-benefit pension plan was not one of the obligations it shed in order to emerge from bankrup.tcy, an achievement that won it praise today from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp." (Financial Week; free registration required)
Public Pension Systems Struggle Nationwide
Excerpt: "Nationwide, states' unfunded pension liabilities to retirees total $284 billion, according to a 2004 S&P report. The figure represents the difference between the money set aside to pay the pensions of current and future retirees and the amount that those retirees have actually earned." (The Eagle-Tribune Online)
Association of Fundraising Professionals to Congress: Make the IRA Rollover Permanent
Excerpt: "In written comments delivered to Congress on Tuesday, July 24, AFP called for the expansion and permanent extension of the IRA Rollover provision and congressional allocation of greater resources for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement initiatives." (Association of Fundraising Professionals)
Critics Say Financial-Planning Calculators Encourage Employees to Save Too Much
Excerpt: "First, let's get one thing straight: critics of conventional retirement savings models do not want employees to simply forget about saving for retirement. 'We aren't promoting undersaving,' says Ty Bernicke, CFP, with Bernicke & Associates Ltd., in Eau Claire, Wisconsin." (CFO.com)
Excessive Fee Litigation: How Plan Sponsors and Service Providers Can Protect Themselves
Excerpt: "[A]s of June 2007 there were no less than 14 similar cases currently pending in eight federal district courts. This report discusses the background for the complaints, the allegations in the complaints, defenses raised, and court decisions related to these cases. It concludes with a discussion of the likely trends for the future and practice tips for plan sponsors and service providers." (Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP)
Overview: Liberalization of Variable Insurance Product Diversification Requirements Proposed (PDF)
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service ('IRS') and Treasury published in [the] Federal Register a proposal to amend the regulations under section 817(h) of the Internal Revenue Code ('Code'), which imposes 'adequate diversification' requirements on insurance company 'segregated asset accounts' (i.e., separate accounts and subaccounts) supporting variable life insurance and annuity contracts ('variable contracts')." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
Opinion: Why Democrats May End Up on the Wrong Side of the Social Security Privatization War
Excerpt: "'Congress rejected Social Security privatization in 2005 and should reject it again in 2007 -- whether it's for Americans, Peruvians or Canadians. The promise of a secure retirement shouldn't stop at America's borders.' This was the reaction of William McNary, a leading Social Security activist, after finding out that some Democrats are supporting a Bush NAFTA expansion for Peru that would give Citibank, a major Democratic donor, the right to sue the country if it reverses its . . . ." (Independent Media Institute)
Overview of Vanguard's Comments on Fee Disclosures to Sponsors and Participants
Excerpt: "Fee and expense information should not be provided on a standalone basis, but should be presented along with risk and return characteristics for each investment option. Focusing only on fee and expense information may lead participants to make portfolio construction errors. Vanguard participant disclosure is focused on the 'bottom line'-- the total costs incurred by participants. This figure is expressed as a percentage of assets known as the 'expense ratio.' It is easier to understand and allows participants to make comparisons among different funds." (Vanguard)
Senate Leaders Ask IRS to Better Publicize Saver's Credit
Excerpt: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Republican Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have called on the IRS to better publicize the saver's credit, a nonrefundable tax credit that encourages low- to middle-income Americans to save money for retirement." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
Is There Really a Retirement Savings Crisis? An NRRI Analysis
Excerpt: "The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) has shown that even if households work to age 65 and annuitize all their financial assets, including the receipts from reverse mortgages on their homes, nearly 45 percent will be 'at risk' of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Companies Encouraging Retired Baby Boomers to Return to Workplace
Excerpt: "Fearful of staff shortages after boomers retire, companies will offer experienced workers flexible hours, part-time schedules and innovative 'snowbird' programs that let employees split a job between summer and winter locations." (Kiplinger's Personal Finance via Deseret News Publishing Company)
The Relationship Between Employee Turnover and Employee Compensation in Small Business (PDF)
45 pages. Excerpt: "The purpose of this study is to examine whether employee turnover differences between small and large firms are the result of differences in wages and benefits or of some form of self-selection where employees of small businesses are simply more prone to high turnover rates than those in larger firms." (U.S. Small Business Administration)
Performance-based Restricted Stock: Paying for Performance
Excerpt: "A series of regulatory and corporate governance developments, combined with the refinement of a key design feature, have breathed new life into the use of restricted stock in long-term incentive programs. Restricted stock--long favored by recipients but loathed by skeptical investors--has shown a 12% year-over-year increase in usage according to Hay Group's most recent Top Executive Compensation survey." (Hay Group)
Overview of Non-Executive Chairman Pay Practices
Excerpt: "Organizations that transition to a non-executive chairman structure must establish the appropriate compensation (both level and composition) for the newly defined role. To attract the right person, organizations must compensate the individual appropriately." (Hay Group)
Newly Posted Events
Self-funded vs. Fully-insured Health Plans: What's Right For You?
Nationwide on August 9, 2007
presented by HRTrainingCenter.com
Newly Posted Press Releases
Statement of PBGC Interim Director Charles E.F. Millard on Continuation of Defined Benefit Pensions at Tower Automotive
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Transcend Technologies Group Announces Strategic Acquisition and Capital Infusion; Company Positioned for Dynamic Growth in Health and Benefits Sector
Transcend Technologies Group, Inc.
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
401k Administrator
for Vanguard
in PA
Health Consultant
for Sibson Consulting
in NY
Field Representative - Insurance & Financial Services
for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
in KY, TN
Financial Analyst
for The Bostonian Group
in MA
Supervisor, Benefits Administration (Ref.# JP29083-FF)
for Southern California Edison
in CA
CDG Operations Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ
Sr. Health and Welfare Benefits Analyst
for City National Bank
in CA
Senior Communications Consultant
for Boutique Communications Consulting Firm
in AZ
Regional Client Service Consultant
for Standard Insurance Company
in IL
Pension Consultant
for Merrill Lynch
in NJ
WRS Sr. Communications Specialist
for Wachovia
in NC
Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Employee Benefit Services, Inc.
in TN
Relationship Manager - Emerging Corporate Market
for Fidelity Investments
in TX
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