BNA

Compliance Specialist - Retirement Plans
for Diversified in MA

Senior Benefits Account Manager
for Undisclosed near Raleigh, North Carolina in NC

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An Era of New Regulations—What It Means for TPAs and Financial Advisors
in California on November 9, 2011 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators - San Diego Chapter

HSAs From the Employer’s Perspective: Design and Compliance Issues
Nationwide on October 27, 2011 presented by Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Year End Primer Webcast
Nationwide on November 1, 2011 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Text of SEC No-Action Letter Regarding Participant Fee Disclosure; Similar Go- Ahead Expected from FINRA (PDF)
Reply to DOL on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011; sent same day as DOL request. "We agree to treat information provided by a plan administrator or any person designated by a plan administrator to act on is behalf . . . to plan participants or beneficiaries that is required by and complies with the disclosure requirements set forth in [the DOL final regs on participant fee disclosures, issued October 20 of last year] as if it were a communication that satisfies the requirements of Rule 482 of the [Securities Act of 1933]. . . . We also are of the view that such information need not be filed pursuant to Rule 497 under the Securities Act and Section 24(b) of the Investment Company Act with the [SEC] or certain national securities associations, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). We note that FINRA staff has informed us that it intends to interpret FINRA's rules . . . in a matter that is consistent with our positions . . . ." (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

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Text of DOL Request to SEC for No-Action Letter Regarding Participant Fee Disclosure (PDF)
Sent to SEC on October 26, 2011. (U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

AT&T Settles EEOC Suit over Early Retirement Program
"The EEOC had charged that AT&T, Inc. and a number of its subsidiaries discriminated against a class of retired AT&T workers by denying them the opportunity for reemployment solely because they retired under certain early retirement or enhanced severance programs. This practice violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the EEOC said in a press release." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Employer Breached Duty of Loyalty by Withholding Profit Sharing Plan Forms
"A damage award to the participant of nearly $200,000 represented the difference in his account balance at year-end 2007, when he left the employer, and spring 2009, which is when he finally received his rollover distribution." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Problem Employees and the Hazards of Disregarding ERISA Information Requests
"A recent case from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Kujanek v. Houston Poly Bag I Ltd., highlights a number of important ERISA rules that may come up in the context of contentious employee terminations. The take-away from this case is that employers must be diligent in responding to an employee's ERISA document and information requests, even if the employee has not satisfied the technical plan rules for making the request (and even if the employee has created problems for the employer)." (Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley LLP)

Join the Nation's Top Retirement Services Professionals at SPARK   [Advert.]

Gain insights into the latest industry trends; participate in interactive sessions on marketing, operations, investments and distribution issues; and network with marketing, sales, administration and recordkeeping professionals. 2011 SPARK Forum

Final DOL Regulations Regarding Investment Advice to Retirement Plan Participants
"Plan fiduciaries often must make difficult choices in the interests of educating participants in a beneficial way, without running afoul of ERISA's prohibited transaction rules (which are largely concerned about possible overreaching by fiduciaries, particularly when it comes to fees)." (Ice Miller)

DB Sponsors Face Higher Contributions in 2011, According to Mercer
"Mercer estimates that among the private sector plans it studied, more than two-thirds will see required contributions jump from last year by at least 50%, and at least one quarter will likely see contributions more than double." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Massachusetts House Approves Non-Profits' Use of State Retirement Plans
"The Massachusetts State House has approved a bill allowing non-profit entities, which represent about 14% of the state's workforce, to access retirement savings plans managed by the state Treasury." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Florida Judge Challenges State Pension Contribution Change
"[This week] a Florida judge challenged the state's defense of a new law that requires public employees to contribute 3% of their pay to the Florida Retirement System, the Associated Press reports." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Retirement Beneficiary Designations: Getting the Right Assets to the Right People
"According to the Wall Street Journal, 401ks and IRAs account for about 60 percent of the assets of U.S. households investing at least $100,000. Both state and federal laws affect to whom these assets may go, and the results can be complicated, especially when the owner of the account has been divorced and remarried." (401khelpcenter.com, LLC)

Asset Allocations of Corporate Pension Plans as of Year-End 2010 (PDF)
"This is Towers Watson's second detailed analysis of the asset allocations of Fortune 1000 pension plan sponsors. Once again, we look at allocations by asset class and valuation level on both an aggregate and average-sponsor basis, as well as by plan size, plan status (closed, frozen or active) and funded status." (Towers Watson)

New Jersey Governor Claims Judges Collect Better Pension Benefits than Other Public Employees
"In a fight over whether judges are required to pay more toward pension and health benefits as required by a law passed this summer, Christie has blasted the state's judiciary as protecting its own wallet as other public employees ante up." (St. Petersburg Times)

Illinois Pension Abuse Reform Legislation Advances
"Inspired by disclosures in Tribune/WGN-TV investigations, a key provision aims to end the practice of labor officials double-dipping by collecting city and union pensions simultaneously. In addition, the legislation seeks to tamp down the ability of labor leaders to base their public pensions on union salaries." (Chicago Tribune)

Kansas Panel Mulls Changes to Public Pension System
"A commission agreed Wednesday to consider proposing that Kansas start a 401(k)-style pension plan for new teachers and government workers, but members also expect to mull over a less aggressive alternative that creates such a plan only for higher-wage employees." (Bloomberg L.P.)

Judge OKs $32 Mil.lion Settlement for The Tribune Company Employees
"The final hearing is set for January 30. The plaintiffs contended that the leveraged buyout that resulted in creation of an employee ownership plan violated federal pension law." (The Poynter Institute)

Defined Contribution Plan Participants' Activities, First Half 2011 (PDF)
"The commitment to contribution activity in the first half of 2011 continued at the high rate observed in the first half of 2010. Only 1.6 percent of DC plan participants stopped contributing in the first half of 2011, compared with 1.7 percent during the same time period a year earlier." (Investment News; free registration required)

Center for American Progress and the Fordham Institute Offer Solutions to Teacher Pension Crisis
"While both reports identified the same problems, the solutions they outline diverge on key points." (Governing)

Findings in Actuarial Study Support Administration's Premium Proposal, Says PBGC Director
"A new study by the Society of Actuaries makes suggestions to improve pension funding that are 'consistent with' the Administration's proposal to allow the PBGC to set risk-adjusted premiums, according to PBGC Director Josh Gotbaum." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

American Academy of Actuaries' Proposed Fixes to PPA with Actuarial Implications for Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
"[W]e are pleased to provide the following list of proposed modifications to the multiemployer provisions of PPA for [PBGC's] consideration." (American Academy of Actuaries)

Participant Fee Disclosure in 401(k) Plans
"The unintended consequence of the regulation will cause participants in some plans to remain clueless as to the true cost of sponsoring a retirement plan and others with a discernable layer of expenses, fully disclosed, and although potentially less costly than the bundled alternatives, confused as to why they are necessary." (Asset Strategy Consultants - Boston)

Most Baby Boomers Will Work for Life
"Retirement USA recently calculated a very scary number representing the gap between where retirement savings should be and how much Americans actually have. The total deficit was estimated to be $6.6 tril.lion dollars." (U.S. News & World Report LP)

Evaluating Retirement Plan Success
"What can be measured and is relevant are participation and savings rates. It is interesting that according to PSCA's 54th Annual Survey increasing participation and increasing deferrals rank as one and two on the list or primary purposes for participant education." (Profit Sharing/401 (k) Council of America)

Overdiversification and the 401k Investor
"Would 401k investors see better returns if their mutual fund options were limited to portfolios of 30–50 stocks? Fiduciary News sought to answer these compelling questions by using the Morningstar database (performance through 8/31/11)." (Fiduciary News)

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The Latest Adventures in Fiduciary Advice
"Opening scene: The Starship Pension Prize has discovered a strange new planet inhabited by the Klingons, a crafty race known for hawking lightly regulated insurance products. The Starship's chief officer, Captain James T. Kirk, plans to explore compliance with the Federation's fiduciary adviser rule." (fi360 Blog)

BLS Employment Cost Index for Benefits, by Ownership, Occupational Group, and Industry
"[The chart i]ncludes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Online Employee Benefits Enrollment Is the New Normal
"In the past year alone, the use of online benefits enrollment increased by 8 percentage points, which represents a significant shift in how employees learn about, evaluate and interact with their benefits programs." (Employee Benefit News)

OMB Employees Seek Work-Life Balance via Union Vote
"[The small OMB] staff works long hours. Although the employees know that comes with the territory, they also believe a better work-life balance can improve work productivity while enhancing their home life." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

PBGC Sues Bendix for Pension Debt
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC))

US Labor Department, Securities and Exchange Commission Coordinate on 401(k) Plan Fee Disclosure Rules
(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA))

IRS Seeks Applications for Advisory Committee for the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division
(Internal Revenue Service (IRS))

Pension Plan Sponsors See Soaring 2011 Contributions as Interest Rates Hit New Lows
(Mercer)