Compliance Checklist 2011 for Qualified Governmental and Nonelecting Church Plans, Non-ERISA 403(b) Plans, 457 Plans and Nonqualified Executive Benefit Plans NOT Subject to ERISA (PDF)
"The information presented here reflects reporting and disclosure requirements in effect as of January 1, 2011." (Prudential Retirement)

DATAIR Defined Benefit Software [Advert.]

PC-based software for proposals, compliance testing and valuations with PBGC reporting, employee statements and termination calcs. Supports wide range of plan designs including Cash Balance and 412(e)(3). Cost-effective systems with expert support.

Compliance Checklist 2011 for Defined Benefit Plans, Defined Contribution Plans and 403(b) Plans That Are Subject to ERISA (PDF)
"[This Checklist is] a 'quick glance' resource to help you meet plan reporting and disclosure requirements for plans subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of ERISA." (Prudential Retirement)

IRS Rules that Annuity Payouts with Automatic Increases Are Not 'Substantially Equal Periodic Payments' (PDF)
"Although the ruling applies by its terms only to nonqualified annuities, its conclusions implicitly extend to the comparable exception under the § 72(t) premature distribution penalty for qualified retirement plans." (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)

Door Closes on SPD-Based Benefits Claims, but Plaintiffs See New Hope for Relief
"The [Supreme] Court described three types of relief against fiduciaries that were traditionally available in equity and, hence, should be available under [ERISA] Section 502(a)(3): (1) reformation of contract to remedy fraud or mistake, (2) estoppel to remedy fraudulent misrepresentation, and (3) compensation for a loss resulting from a fiduciary's breach or to prevent a fiduciary's unjust enrichment (a/k/a 'surcharge')." (Ballard Spahr LLP)

Firm Settles Federal Age Discrimination Lawsuit Over Mandatory Retirement Policy
"The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . . . announced that it charged that Asian World of Martial Arts, Inc. fired its controller, Morris Pashko, because of his age, 74, pursuant to a newly implemented retirement policy which mandated that all employees age 67 and over be terminated." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Key Provisions of 403(b) Arrangements for Tax-Exempt Organization Retirement Plans (PDF)
"Given the number of long-standing 403(b) plans, termination provisions are of particular interest, and any plan sponsor desiring to terminate its 403(b) plan should assure that appropriate procedures are followed in doing so." (Bloomberg Finance L.P. via McDermott Will & Emery)

Supreme Court Says SPD Terms Not Enforceable as Plan Terms; Leaves Door Open for Other Remedies
"With this additional relief available and the vast number of communications made by employers, we imagine that litigation regarding discrepancies between plan terms and participant communications will only increase. As such, employers should carefully review existing SPDs and other participant communications to ensure consistency with the terms of the plan document." (Haynes and Boone, LLP)

The Funding of State and Local Pensions in 2010
"The financial crisis of 2008-09 was a major setback for state and local pension plans, as plummeting asset values caused their funded ratios to drop significantly. The initial impact of the crisis on plan health was covered in a brief published last year. Since that time, several new developments have had a mixed effect on the current and future health of public plans." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

When Is ERISA Preemption Permitted: Beneficiary Designation Forms
"The circuit courts are split as to whether ERISA preemption would require benefits to be paid to the estate or state law doctrines would allow the beneficiary designation form to be honored." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

New American Academy of Actuaries Practice Note on Working with Pension Plan Auditors (PDF)
"The Academy's Pension Accounting Committee has issued a practice note with information for actuaries on current practices relevant to the audit of pension plan financial information that is subject to US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP)." (American Academy of Actuaries)

New 403(b) Survey Shows Resilience of Sponsors and Participants
"Despite a potentially crushing recession and a spate of complex new regulations, the 403(b) retirement plan system appears to be healthier than ever. That is the findings of the just-released 2010 403(b) Plan Survey from the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America . . . ." (401khelpcenter.com)

Evaluation Scorecard for Retirement Income Products (PDF)
"The purpose of this paper is to propose a set of metrics that plan sponsors and their consultants can utilize in assessing the suitability of a retirement income strategy as an investment option within a participant directed retirement plan. Given our experience as consultants and co-fiduciaries in this field, we believe that following this framework would meet ERISA's requirements." (Institutional Retirement Income Council)

Automatic Enrollment Drives Record Defined Contribution Plan Participation
"The Aon Hewitt Inc. analysis found that in 2010, an average of 75.8% of eligible employees participated in their company's defined contribution plans, up from 73.7% in 2009 and 67.2% in 2005." (Business Insurance)

Court Moves Pennsylvania Public Funds' Suit to State Court
"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System . . . and the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Board's . . . suit against Citigroup for alleged undisclosed exposure to mortgage-backed securities has been sent back to state court." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

When Small Pension Plans Move In and Out of PBGC Coverage
"We often see 'substantial owner' plans when a pension plan covers only a business owner and their spouse. These plans are not covered by the PBGC and don't have to pay PBGC pension insurance premiums. However, once there are any non-substantial owners in the plan (e.g., hiring one non-owner employee), things change." (Van Iwaarden Associates)

Vested New Hampshire Workers to Retain Pension Benefits
"Although all public workers will have to pay higher pension contributions beginning July 1, negotiators agreed that the bulk of reforms in Senate Bill 3 will apply to those who are hired after July 1." (New Hampshire Union Leader)

Asset Allocation of IRA Plans (PDF)
"In [the database used for this study], 38.5 percent of the assets were in equities, 22.3 percent in money, 13.6 percent in bonds, 12.1 percent in balanced funds, and 13.6 percent in other assets." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

How the Fiduciary Discovered What's Wrong with Emphasizing Income
"The Ford Foundation showed all fiduciaries that investing for income limits capital appreciation. It limits your choice of investments to those which emphasize income generation and income generating investments usually aren't the best for generating capital growth." (Fiduciary News)

American Academy of Actuaries Comment Letter on the Definition of 'Plan-Related Expenses' (PDF)
"The Academy's Pension Committee comments to the IRS and Treasury regarding the potential implications of expected regulatory guidance on the definition of 'plan-related expenses expected to be paid from plan assets' under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 430(b)." (American Academy of Actuaries)

Target-Date Funds and Managed Accounts: Modern Versions of Fairy Tale, 'The Emperor's New Clothes'? (PDF)
"The GAO's recommendations to the DOL regarding TDFs, along with its other reports to Congress discussing providers' conflicts of interest and fiduciaries' unawareness of or willingness to 'turn a blind eye' to them also increases the likelihood that even more 401(k) litigation will occur. 401(k) fiduciaries can protect themselves while simultaneously helping their participants by implementing the GAO's recommendations . . . ." (investment Horizons)

401(k) Participants Need an 'Arab Spring'
"The explanation for why plan administrators continue to punish participants by investing in actively managed funds may be found in a 1998 PriceWaterhouseCoopers study, which concluded: 'even as better information on indexing becomes available, emotional factors may continue to constrain the growth of indexing. Many institutional fund managers feel driven to beat the market, even while recognizing the arguments in favor of indexing.'" (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)

Employers Reluctant to Grant Work Flexibility to Employees, and Employees Afraid to Take Advantage of It
"For the employers, the survey found that the reluctance is not happening at the top, but rather among the mid-level mangers who worry that if they give one worker flexibility, then everyone will want it, and if their employees are working remotely, they may not be actually working." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Professionals Look for Companies Hiring with Part-Time Flexible Work Arrangements
"A common route back to work is through staffing agencies that specialize in flexible jobs." (The Wall Street Journal)

How IRA Owners Invest Their Assets
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

ftwilliam.com Announces Development of New Integrated Web-Portal
(ftwilliam.com)

IBI Analyzes Growing Impact of Stroke on U.S. Businesses; Recommends Focus on Prevention and Return to Work Efforts
(Integrated Benefits Institute)

Practical Steps for Managing the New Fee Disclosure Regulations
(Stable Two Financial)

Insperity Announces Enhanced Deposit Feature For 401(k) Plan Participants
(Insperity)

Brandman University Research Study Shows Companies Can Better Embrace Virtual Work Force as a Competitive Advantage
(Brandman University)

SunGard

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