ASPPA

Manager, ARRC Retirement Plans
for Alaska Railroad Corporation in AK

Director, Benefits Administration
for EBS-RMSCO, Inc. in NY

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Health Care Reform’s Big Picture for Employer Plans: Insurance Reforms, Exchanges, Play or Pay, and Court Challenges
Nationwide on October 20, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Text of DOL Final Regs on Application of ERISA to Investment Advice Provided on Level-Fee Basis or Using Computer Model Arrangements (PDF)
114 pages. Finalizes regulations proposed in March 2010 implementing a PPA 2006 provision that allows advisers to receive fees from investment providers selected by participants to whom advice is given through use of a computer model certified as unbiased by an independent expert, or if the fees are paid on a level-fee basis, meaning that they do not vary based on the investments selected. These regulations do not affect the proposed regulations on the definition of fiduciary investment advice, which the DOL recently announced that it will re-propose. (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

DATAIR! Smart By Design – More Choices – Less Cost   [Advert.]

Proposals, Testing, Valuation, IRS/DOL/PBGC Forms, Plan Documents
Includes Graded, 412(e)(3), Cash Balance, Combo Plans
(888) 328-2474    Sales@DATAIR.com    www.DATAIR.com

Compliance Delay of Deadlines for Cash Balance and Other Hybrid Plans
"Since the IRS has not yet finalized the 2010 proposed regulations, the delay in the proposed 2012 effective date was necessary to provide plan sponsors sufficient time to evaluate those regulations after they are issued in final form and to determine if plan design changes are required or beneficial." (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)

Second Circuit Clarifies Standards for 'Stock Drop' Cases (PDF)
"For an employer that includes its company stock as an investment option in its retirement plan, the Second Circuit decisions highlight the need for the employer to regularly monitor whether that investment option remains prudent." (Nixon Peabody LLP)

Pension Court Ruling in Tomlinson v. El Paso Corporation Comes Down and Provides New Guidance
"The court also made clear that when employers make major changes to their pension plans they must give notice of those changes to employees. The court analyzed and approved the notices that El Paso sent out to its employees, making specific and detailed findings regarding what employers must include in Summary Plan Descriptions—and what they need not include—when changes are made to pension plans." (Employee Benefit News)

Updated Practice Note on Selecting and Documenting Mortality Assumptions for Pensions (PDF)
"The Academy's Pension Committee has updated an October 2009 practice note on Selecting and Documenting Mortality Assumptions for Pensions to reflect changes to ASOP No. 35 that went into effect in June 2011." (American Academy of Actuaries)

MassMutual’s Award-Winning ERISA Advisory Services   [Advert.]

MassMutual’s ERISA Advisory Services can help plan fiduciaries and other professionals by providing up-to-date information and easy-to-use tools that help simplify the process of maintaining the compliance health of your retirement plan.

Court Affirms Dismissal of In re Citigroup ERISA Litigation and Gearren v. McGraw-Hill Cos., Inc. (PDF)
"[The court] joined several sister circuits in officially adopting the Moench presumption of prudence. It also joined the Third Circuit in holding that there is no fiduciary duty to disclose information about the company's financial condition to participants." (Alston & Bird LLP)

Fifth Circuit Finds Broad Fiduciary Responsibility in the Handling of U.S. Plan Document Requests
"In Kujanek v. Houston Poly Bag Ltd, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit required a profit sharing administrator who had not responded to requests for documents and distribution/rollover forms to make up almost $184,000 in account losses incurred by the participant while his distribution was delayed.' (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)

Plan Sponsors Should Prepare Now for 2012 Pension Interest Rates
"The IRS recently released the October interest rates for pension plans. What do they hold in store for plan sponsors? This post summarizes some of the important rates along with our observations." (Van Iwaarden Associates)

Best Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed
"A SEP and a solo 401(k) are two good options for freelancers and people who operate a sideline business." (The Kiplinger Washington Editors)

Reclaiming Fiduciary Duty Balance (PDF)
"Reclaiming fiduciary duty balance between prudence, loyalty and impartiality is critical to sustaining pension promises. It would encourage better alignment of pension service providers' supply chain interests, adoption of fit-for-purpose pension fund governance practices, and implementation of precautionary risk management policies." (Rotman International Centre for Pension Management via Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.)

Young American Workers More Interested in Guaranteed Retirement Income
"American workers ages 18-36 are more interested in having a guaranteed retirement income feature in their retirement plan than those 45 years of age and older, a new poll by Prudential Retirement finds." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

U.S. Private College and University Plan Sponsors Seek Help with Fiduciary Process
"The changing regulatory environment is a major concern and has created a focus on fiduciary oversight. Establishing a fiduciary process was listed as the top challenge facing plan sponsors by 82% of survey respondents." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Ohio Teachers Retirement System Funding Below 60%
"The PricewaterhouseCoopers . . . report found that even though the system reaped its strongest investment return in nearly three decades during fiscal year 2011 . . . the funding period for the pension fund remains 'infinite,' and the funded ratio declined slightly from 59.1% to 58.8%." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Rhode Island's $14.8 Bil.lion Pension System in Crisis
"Ten cents of every state tax dollar now goes to retired public workers." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Florida Governor's Plan to Reclaim Pension Savings Would Leave $5.5 Mil.lion Hole in One County Budget
"A new law requiring that state workers contribute 3 percent to their retirement accounts translated into $5.5 mil.lion in savings for St. Johns County government. The county gave that savings back to the taxpayers with a slight break in the property tax. But a proposal floated by Gov. Rick Scott to take that 3 percent savings and transfer it to the state . . . ." (St. Augustine Record)

New Jersey Governor's Overhaul May Not Save State Pension System
"[A] sober assessment of the future of the pension system is emerging in bond documents and administration estimates released last week, signaling that New Jersey taxpayers have not escaped the ballooning pension costs that the reform measures promised to control." (New Jersey On-Line LLC)

To Fix Illinois State Pension Mess, Cut Benefits for Employees
"[T]he only viable solution requires public workers and the state to swallow bitter pills: reduced pensions for current employees and mandatory payments by the state to cover the roughly $85 bil.lion it owes for pension benefits already promised." (Sun-Times Media, LLC)

Tennessee Employers Required to Compensate Employees for Travel Time to and from Jury Duty
"The Attorney General opined that the employers are required to compensate employees for time spent traveling to and from jury duty regardless of whether the employee's usual compensation includes travel time." (Ford & Harrison LLP)

Companies Look for Free Employee Perks That Actually Help the Bottom Line
"The freebies that proliferated during flush times—from tuition assistance to free snacks—are steadily disappearing, while perks that don't cost anything, such as allowing employees to work from home, are becoming increasingly common." (The Wall Street Journal)

2012 Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Transportation Benefits, Adoption Assistance, and More
"Employers with transportation or adoption benefit plans will need to confirm whether their plans automatically apply the latest limits or whether an amendment is needed to recognize these changes." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Taking Workplace Flexibility from Private to Public
"Workplace flexibility, while a little thing, can make a huge difference for working parents, by providing control over when, how and where work gets done. So why aren't the needs of working parents for flexibility becoming a big public issue and ultimately the normal way of doing business?" (TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.)

US Labor Department Publishes Final Regulation to Improve Access to Quality Investment Advice
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

ERIC Urges Proposals to Make Benefit Summaries Relevant to Self-Insured Plans
(ERIC (ERISA Industry Committee))

ASPPA Honors Members for Educational Achievement
(American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA))

ASPPA Honors Ashton with Eidson Award
(American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA))

Robert Richter Becomes 43rd President to Lead ASPPA
(American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA))

PenChecks Introduces Distributions via Debit Card
(PenChecks, Inc.)

PULSE! Connect™ Adds Real-Time Polling Though Partnership with Wayin
(PULSE! Connect)

US Healthcare Costs Rise 5.73% Over the 12-Months Ending August 2011 According to the S&P Healthcare Economic Indices
(S&P Indices)

Standard Life and Accident and Hammerman & Gainer Release New Limited Medical Plan and ClaimPay MasterCard
(Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company)

Integrated Retirement Announces the Addition of Jayne Fahlen as Vice President, Business Development
(Integrated Retirement)

E4 Health Launches to Deliver Focused EAP Solutions that Improve Engagement and Behavior, Reducing Healthcare Costs
(E4 Health)