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May 1, 2009 |
| Here are the Web's best new links about compliance and cost aspects of plan operation, design and policy. |
DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc. (Advert.)
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[Guidance Overview]
Clarifications, Frustrations, and Operations of the Final 403(b) Regulations (PDF)
4 pages. (Milliman)
[Guidance Overview]
Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- Retirement and Executive Compensation -- Updated April 29, 2009 (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
The 'Simple' Target Fund Investment Option May Be More Complicated Than You Think
Excerpt: "[F]or a plan fiduciary, choosing a target-date lineup is far from easy. The funds vary enormously from one provider to another -- a fact driven home last year when some of the biggest losses were suffered by participants on the verge of retirement, who supposedly had the most conservative portfolios. The average 2010 fund (that is, a fund allegedly tailored to an employee due to retire in 2010) lost 23.3%. Some fared far better, with the best losing just 3.6%; but some fared dismally, with the worst-performing 2010 fund losing a stunning 41.3%." (CFO.com)
Auto Industry: Summary of Government Efforts and Automakers' Restructuring to Date (PDF)
48 pages. Excerpt: "The pension plans of Chrysler and GM pose considerable financial uncertainty to PBGC. In the event that Chrysler or GM cannot continue to maintain their pension plans -- such as in the case of liquidation or an asset sale -- PBGC may be required to take responsibility for paying the benefits for the plans, which are currently underfunded by a total of about $29 billion. /32/ Although it is impossible to know what the exact claims to PBGC would be if it took over Chrysler's and GM's pension plans, doing so would likely strain PBGC's resources, because the automakers plans' represent a significant portion of the benefits it insures." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Chrysler Pension Plans: Information for Workers and Retirees
Excerpt: "This information page is offered as a service to workers and retirees who have questions about their PBGC-insured benefits. The PBGC is not commenting on the outcome of Chrysler's bankrup.tcy or suggesting that Chrysler's pension plans will be assumed by the PBGC." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
PBGC Provides Small Plan Reporting Relief for Missed 2009 Quarterlies
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued Technical Update 09-3 to provide reporting relief from part 4043 requirements if a required quarterly contribution is not timely made and failure to make the contribution is not motivated by financial inability. Reporting is waived if the plan has fewer than 25 participants and is simplified if the plan has at least 25 but fewer than 100 participants." (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)
HR Leaders Turning to New Products and Tools Designed to Strengthen Defined-Contribution Plans
Excerpt: "[P]lummeting returns are contributing to the enormous pressure on HR leaders to arm their workforces with better fund choices and a more expansive toolset for making informed decisions about retirement planning. [M]ore and more companies are also making available auto-pilot features to simplify enrollment, deferrals and fund choices. They're also offering investment advice and annuitized new products designed to make defined-contribution plans act more like defined-benefit plans by guaranteeing payouts for life." (Human Resource Executive Online)
While Move Away from Traditional Defined Benefit Plans Continues, Sponsors Not Converting to Cash Balance Designs
Excerpt: "[D]espite the legal clarity and financial advantages to participants, large employers, for the most part, are not showing much interest in converting or setting up new plans, says William Sweetnam, a Partner in The Groom Law Group in Washington. There have been some recent high-profile conversions to cash balance plans, including Federal Express and Coca-Cola, but no wholesale movement to the cash balance format. Instead, for the most part, the IRS in 2008 spent much of the time clearing up old determination requests from older conversions, says Sweetnam." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
PBGC Offers Reassurance about Chrysler Bankrup.tcy Effect on Pensions
Excerpt: "Vince Snowbarger, acting director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, said Chrysler's entry into Chapter 11 bankrup.tcy protection does not change the status of its defined benefit pension plans." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
2008 Disclosures of Funding, Discount Rates, Asset Allocations and Contributions
Excerpt: "During the latter months of 2008, Watson Wyatt projected year-end pension funding status for accounting purposes at various times, capturing different interest rate and market environments. Now Watson Wyatt has analyzed actual funded status for the 100 largest pension sponsors among publicly traded companies with year-end 2008 fiscal dates, as disclosed in their Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 10-K filings. During 2008, actual funding ratios in this group declined by an average of 28 percentage points." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
[Opinion]
The Ever-Deepening New York State Pension Mess
Excerpt: "So far, the growing scandal has not brought about any serious calls for reform in New York. The state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, and the New York City comptroller, William Thompson Jr., have proposed banning pension fund investments that involve placement agents. That is only a start. The state also needs an independent board to help the comptroller oversee investments. Right now, Mr. DiNapoli is the sole trustee of $122 billion. That is far too much power in the hands of one person. Mr. DiNapoli argues that boards, too, are vulnerable to corruption, but they are not nearly so exposed as one lone politician." (The New York Times; free registration required)
BLAZE SSI Corp. (Advert.)
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Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- Human Resources -- Updated April 29, 2009 (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "These charts summarize selected federal legislation that would affect employee benefit programs. The bills included on the charts are based on judgments regarding the prominence of the issue, the likelihood of enactment, and the influence of the sponsors." (Towers Perrin)
SEC Considering Change to CEO Pay Disclosure Rules
Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering changing a formula that critics say often allows public companies to low-ball in regulatory filings just how much top executives are paid. At issue is how companies report in a summary compensation table found in their annual proxy statements the totals for stock options and stock awards, which often make up most of top executives' pay. When the rules were last revised three years ago, the SEC directed companies to include a figure that is based only on how much of a charge against earnings is taken each year for the portion of those awards that vested during the year." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
2009 Proxy Statements Highlight the New Realities in Executive Compensation
Excerpt: "A detailed Towers Perrin examination of proxies filed by large corporations indicates that executive compensation has not been immune from the shocks to company performance brought on by the financial crisis and the recession. . . . More specifically, we found: The trend of year-to-year increases in executive compensation has reversed, in large measure because of a reduction in annual bonuses paid for 2008 performance. Companies are generally holding the line on executives' salaries. Freezes in salary are widespread. The value of recent equity grants has declined at many companies." (Towers Perrin)
Hourly Employees Spared Painful Benefits Cuts in Chrysler Bankrup.tcy
Excerpt: "Union employees will still receive company-sponsored health care. CEO Bob Nardelli says 'all qualified employee' pension and 401(k) funds would be protected from Chrysler's creditors." (Workforce Management; free registration required)
Consumer Expenditures in 2007 (PDF)
20 pages. Excerpt: "Consumer units (CUs) spent $49,638, on average, in 2007, a 2.6-percent increase over the previous year. This was a more moderate increase than the 4.3-percent growth in spending in 2006 and the 6.9-percent increase in 2005. The increase in consumer expenditures in 2007 was close to the 2.8-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Items (CPI-U) in 2007. This report shows the latest results from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Employee Ownership Update for April 30, 2009
NCEO Executive Director Corey Rosen discusses the use of company stock at Chrysler and GM; what stories people tell about your company; challenges for employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) in a down market; and an essay contest at the Carey Center for Democratic Capitalism. (National Center for Employee Ownership)
Press Releases
(Click to post your press release)Finance Leaders Release Health Care Reform Policy Options
U.S. Senate Finance Committee
Statement of PBGC Acting Director Vince Snowbarger on Chrysler Bankruptcy
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
U.S. Labor Department Obtains Judgment Prohibiting Former Lockport, New York, Employer From Future Fiduciary Oversight of Employee Benefit Plans
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Principal Releases New Three-Step Enrollment Workbook
Principal Financial Group
J. Mark Iwry Joins Treasury as Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy
Retirement Security Project
Smart401k Hires Impact Communications to Promote 401k Review Services
Smart401k
Barclays Launches "iShares in 401k Program"
Barclays Global Investors
ING Institutional Plan Services: An Area Of Growth For ING Retirement Services In The U.S.
ING Retirement Services
Newly Chartered National Trust Company to Specialize in Independent Fiduciary Services
Evercore Partners
AtPrime Media Announces New Retirement Plan Detective Software
AtPrime Media, Inc.
Employee Benefits Jobs
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Sales Director, Qualified 401k Plans
for New York Life Retirement Plan Services
in MA
Plan Administrator
for The Allocation Company, Inc.
in TX
Distribution Specialist
for The Allocation Company, Inc.
in TX
Actuarial Consultant
for United States Steel Corporation
in PA
Jr. Defined Contribution Plan Administrator
for Company Confidential
in PA
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
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