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August 20, 2007
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Under New Defined Benefit Regs, Will the Return on a Professional's Contributions Be Too Low?
Excerpt: "Tax-qualified DB plans make sense for a high-income professional only if the professional can reasonably expect that his/her pre-tax contributions to the DB plan will produce more spendable retirement income -- compared to the spendable retirement income that can be expected to be produced by making equal-effort, after tax contributions to some other type of account, such as a standard taxable account." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

Court Rules Against PBGC Argument in Appeal
Excerpt: "Wilmington Shipping Co. can sue New England Life Insurance Co. under ERISA for breach of fiduciary duty in allegedly mismanaging investments that eventually led to its insolvency and termination, according to an Aug. 3 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Raleigh." (Pensions & Investments)

Opinion: Pension Protection Act of 2006 Is Sometimes Referred to As the 'Pension Destruction Act'
Excerpt: "That's too harsh an assessment, IMHO, but it certainly has a foundation in reality. Without question, the PPA, signed into law only a year ago by President Bush) imposed some new -- and for many plans, harsh -- restrictions on funding and accounting for funding." (Nevin E. Adams via PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

9th Circuit Court: AT&T Policy to Calculate Retirement Benefits Gender Discriminatory
Excerpt: "[On Friday,] the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of female employees of AT&T challenging the telephone giant's use of a discriminatory policy to calculate employee pension and retirement benefits. AT&T refused to credit time taken off by plaintiffs and other women for pregnancy-related disability leaves, although it did credit other types of disability leave when calculating retirement benefits." (Workplace Prof Blog)

Financial Advisers Likely to Increase Role As Fiduciaries for 401(k)s, Study Finds
Excerpt: "The Principal manages 401(k) plans in addition to other financial products, and it recently published a white paper titled 'Pension Protection Act of 2006: Is an Expanded Fiduciary Role the Right Choice for Financial Professionals?'" (Investment News; free registration required)

Commentary: Life-Cycle Funds: Targets, Not Guarantees
Excerpt: "[F]or those who otherwise might have parked their retirement money in lower-return investments or too much company stock, they probably are an improvement. But are they the best solution? For all their supposed benefits, there are at least a few serious concerns." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Seventh Circuit Orders Lump-Sum Payouts Adjusted Upward to Match COLAs Provided to Other Retirees
Excerpt: "ERISA plan sponsors have great latitude about how to structure their benefits. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit illustrates one limit to that freedom in Williams v. Rohm and Haas Pension Plan, ___ F.3d ___, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 19275, decided earlier this week." (ERISA Law Blog)

7th Circuit Includes COLAs in Defined Benefit Lump Sum Calculations
Excerpt: "In a cautionary tale about how plan documents can be written too carefully, the 7th Circuit this week, in Williams v. Rohm and Haas Pension Plan, __ F.3d __ (S.D. Indiana) (Aug. 14, 2007), affirmed both the district court's decision to grant of class certification, and to grant summary judgment, to the participant." (Pension Protection Act Blog)

Alabama Taxes Different Types of Retirement Income Differently
Excerpt: "Alabama doesn't levy any state income tax on traditional pensions, but it does tax 401(k)s and other defined contribution retirement plans. State officials agree that's an inequity in Alabama's tax system, but they disagree about how to address it." (AP via Tuscaloosa News)

Law Firm Mandatory Retirement Policies on the Way Out?
Excerpt: "The Law Blog at WSJ.com reports: Should law firms have mandatory-retirement policies for their lawyers? The American Bar Association is saying no. Here's [a review of] the story from the National Law Journal's Leigh Jones." (Workplace Prof Blog)

Editorial: It's Troubling That a Single State Official Is Responsible for Pension Investments Worth $155 Billion
Excerpt: "This structure, which few states share, leaves too much room for financial blunders and ethical lapses. It is time for the state's leaders to find a way to ensure that this huge block of money is managed by a group of sage advisers, not a single politician." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Pension Investors Are Showing Cautious Interest in Structured Products
Excerpt: "'Structured products allow pension funds to optimize returns in ways that you just can't do with traditional products,' contends Christopher Yeagley of Deutsche Bank . . . . 'Think of the distribution of returns to an asset as a piece of clay,' says Campisano. 'You're chopping off the ends of the return distribution, and adding those parts to the middle to give it a different shape.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

New York Lawyer's Benefit Battle Revived
Excerpt: "A federal appellate court has reinstated claims by a partner at an Oyster Bay, New York law firm that she was improperly denied profit sharing and cash balance plan benefits to which she was entitled." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)


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(Please visit our sponsors. We try to make sure their products and services will be of interest to you. Thanks! --Editor)

Newly Posted Events

401(k) Plans: Beyond the Basics
Nationwide on October 4, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius

An Overview of HR 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Caregiving Responsibilities: A New Focus on Workplace Rights and Obligations - Webcast
Nationwide on August 28, 2007
presented by West LegalEdcenter

Cash Balance Plans Post PPA: Are They Right for Your Clients? - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Final Code §409A Regulations: A "Nuts and Bolts" Approach - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Form 5500: Update and Solving Filing Problems - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Gearing Up for EGTRRA Restatements Webinar
Nationwide on September 11, 2007
presented by ftwilliam.com

PPA - DC Issues in Depth - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)

Retirement Plan Regulatory Update on the Pension Protection Act of 2006
in Maryland on September 6, 2007
presented by Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) - Baltimore Chapter

Tax Deductions after PPA: Cruising on the 404 - Recorded Webcast
Nationwide on August 20, 2007
presented by ASPPA (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries)


Newly Posted Press Releases

Overseas Pension Reforms Offer Lessons for the United States
Urban Institute

Labor Department Obtains Judgment Placing Plans of Plumbers Local 38 Under Independent Fiduciaries
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

U.S. Labor Department Sues Salem, Massachusetts, Construction Company And Master Pension Plan Sponsor In Texas, Alleging Violations Of Federal Pension Law
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Metrics Partners Announces TPA ConnectionT; 401k TPAs - Directory Listings at No Cost
Metrics Partners

Cowden Associates Reveals State of the Region's 401k Plans
Cowden Associates, Inc.

Private-sector Workers And Employers Share The Burden Of Health Insurance Costs
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

New Firm, Fiduciary Risk Management, Launches
Fiduciary Risk Assessment LLC

National Retirement Partners Releases Study On Target Date Funds
National Retirement Partners, Inc.

Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Lockheed 401(k) Fee Lawsuit
FinancialWeek

Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss United Technologies 401(k) Fee Lawsuit
FinancialWeek

TMark Release White Page on Target Date Funds
TMark

Benefit Informatics and Health Cost & Risk Management Form Strategic Business Alliance
Benefit Informatics


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Benefits Analyst
for Kao Brands (formal known as Andrew Jergens Company)
in OH

HM Benefits Service Manager
for Hewitt Associates
in NJ

Defined Contribution / 401(k) Plan Administrator
for The Savitz Organization
in PA

DC Plan Administrator
for R.J. Michalski, Inc.
in CT

Vice President of HR Benefits Compliance
for Fidelity Investments
in TX




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