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March 10, 2011 Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter  |  Advertise  |  Unsubscribe  |  Past Issues

[Guidance Overview]
DOL Proposal to Change Who is a Fiduciary Under ERISA with Respect to Investment Advice
"The DOL has not yet amended the existing definition of fiduciary, but is moving forward with the rulemaking process." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)


DATAIR Government Forms Software (advert.)

Sponsored by DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

EFAST2-approved 5500s with all schedules and PBGC forms, 1099Rs, 5300 series, FAS 158 (license only the modules you need). Built-in verification and expert live support assures accuracy. PC-based software for economy and maximum security.


Understanding 401(k) Fees and Making Every Basis Point Count (PDF)
"Aon Hewitt [experts] discuss the components of Total Plan Cost in DC plans, along with methods to reduce them." (International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists via Hewitt Associates LLC)

Q&A with Phyllis Borzi, the DOL Powerbroker Aiming to Remake the Retirement Market
"[As head of EBSA, she has] the power to reshape investment advice to, she says, help participants and small companies. During her tenure, the Department of Labor has been pushing through a host of regulations that would force service providers to disclose fees and limit conflicts of interest." (RIABiz LLC)

5 Participant Success Features to Add to Your 401k Plan
"[T]he following is a list of basic online tools . . . that we have found participants enjoy, and quite frankly expect in today's digital age . . . ." (BeManaged)


Preventing ERISA Claims and Litigation - March 29-30, 2011 (advert.)

Sponsored by marcus evans

Join leading ERISA experts from BP America, American Airlines, P&G, McDonalds, Sony, Verizon and more in 14 dynamic case studies, interactive panel discussions, workshops and topical luncheons addressing key topics surrounding ERISA.


Retirement Readiness: The Next Key Metric for Advisors?
"[T]argeting and effectively serving this growing and increasingly important group of investors requires rethinking the way in which traditional retirement plans are formulated and benchmarked." (Financial Planning)

Influential Lawmaker Envisions Provident Fund Supplanting 401(k)s
"Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, would like to create a new private retirement system that is based on professionally managed pools of retirement funds." (Investment News; free registration required)

Wisconsin Businessman Sued for Diverting Profit Sharing Plan Assets
"The suit seeks a court order to restore money owed to the plan, correct transactions prohibited by law, remove [the company president] and Coin Builders LLC from serving as fiduciaries to the plan, and permanently bar them from serving as fiduciaries to any ERISA-covered plan in the future." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

New Mexico House Approves Higher Worker Pension Contributions
"Public employees and educators will pay more for their pension programs while government lowers its contributions under a nearly $111 mil.lion budget-balancing proposal approved by the New Mexico House on Monday." (BusinessWeek)

State and Local Workers: Gone But Not Off the Books
"Cities and states across the country are grappling with potentially crushing health and pension obligations for their current and future retirees. And as they do, stories of excess and gaming of the system are getting more attention than they have in the past . . . ." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

[Opinion]
Retirement Blues
"A recent article in the Wall Street Journal tells a sad tale of retirement preparedness: The typical pre-retiree baby boomer has less than one-quarter of what he or she needs in a 401(k) plan to retire. In my view, this assessment is entirely too bleak." (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

[Opinion]
American Benefits Council/CEIBA letter on Core Principles and Other Requirements for Swap Execution Facilities (PDF)
"If swaps were to become materially less available or become significantly more costly to pension plans, funding volatility could increase substantially." (American Benefits Council)

[Opinion]
Defined Benefit Pension Plans Are Dead in Large Corporate America
"Traditional pensions have been vanishing for private sector workers, causing untold retirement anxiety, and American workers want them back, according to a survey released today by the National Institute On Retirement Security." (Leo Kolivakis)

[Opinion]
Big Baths and Pension Accounting
"According to 'Rewriting Pension History' by Michael Rapoport . . . several large multinational corporations are changing the way they report retirement plan numbers. The goal is to stop smoothing losses and gains and instead have current year earnings reflect the full extent of what is owed (or available as a surplus)." (Susan Mangiero)

[Opinion]
Public vs. Private: Plans for Retirement
"[F]or every dollar held in a retirement plan for a private sector employee, there is $3.18 in a retirement plan for a public sector employee. In addition, over 40% of the assets of private sector retirement plans are held in 401(k) plans which are funded primarily by contributions employees have deducted from their earnings." (The Spectrem Group)

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]
Financial Institutions Face New Regulation of Incentive Compensation
"The proposed rules would not become final until six months after publication in final form in the federal register. Final rules would not be adopted until all seven of the federal regulatory agencies with authority to implement Section 956 of the Act have adopted the proposed rules and the comment period with respect to the proposed rules has lapsed." (McGuireWoods LLP)

Employee Benefits Law Review Articles You Need to Read
"It's a great collection with excellent summaries by Professor [Kathryn] Kennedy." (Workplace Prof Blog)

State and Local Government Employee Benefits, March 2010
"In March 2010, 87 percent of State government workers had access to defined-benefit retirement plans, compared with 83 percent of local government workers." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Eliminating the 'Worksite' from Worksite Voluntary Benefits Using a Virtual Benefit Counselor
"For employers who currently use their human resource information system or benefit administration online enrollment platform for open enrollment, the most advanced [virtual benefit counselor] technology can easily 'bolt on' to the existing platform, providing effective communication of benefits and a superior open enrollment experience." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Departing from Prior Practice, DOJ Declines to Defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act
"Section 3 of DOMA . . . defines 'marriage' as a legal union between a man and a woman and limits the term 'spouse' to a person of the opposite se.x." (Proskauer Rose LLP)

Press Releases


Employee Benefits Jobs

Senior Advisor, Health & Welfare in OK for ConocoPhillips

Director, Intermediary Marketing in NJ for Prudential

Director, Strategic Intelligence in CT, NJ for Prudential

Defined Contribution Senior Administrator in CA, NV for Davey Administration Group/Cromwick And Davey

Defined Benefit Pension Plan Administrator in ANY STATE for The Angell Pension Group, Inc.

Senior Consulting Support Specialist in GA for Northwestern Benefit Corporation of GA

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Webcasts and Conferences

"401(k) Plan Current Issues" Workshop - 21 Locations, April - June
Nationwide on April 6, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

"Form 5500/EFAST2 Workshop" - 22 Locations, April - June
Nationwide on April 5, 2011 presented by SunGard Relius

Annual Benefits Fair and Trade Show
in Massachusetts on May 19, 2011 presented by New England Employee Benefits Council

Annual Best Benefits Practices Conference
in Massachusetts on December 8, 2011 presented by New England Employee Benefits Council

Employee Benefits for Domestic Partners: Design, Taxation, and Administration
Nationwide on April 6, 2011 presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters

Health Plan Embezzlement & Fraud: Prevention, Detection & Response Strategies for Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
Nationwide on April 5, 2011 presented by ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits


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Jeanette Hull, News Editor
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
dbaker@benefitslink.com

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