ASPPA & WBC

Pension Administrator
for Suffolk County, NY company in NY

Defined Benefit Actuary
for Charles Schwab in OH

Account Manager
for ING in NY

401(k) Plan Specialist
for Hanson McClain in CA

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Best Practices in Employee Benefit Plan Audits
in California on May 24, 2012 presented by Western Pension & Benefits Conference - Orange County Chapter

Keeping Your 403(b) Compliant - Clean-up on Aisle Three
Nationwide on June 26, 2012 presented by National Institute of Pension Administrators

Webinar: ERISA Budget Accounts: Revenue Sharing in Retirement Plans
Nationwide on May 22, 2012 presented by Nixon Peabody LLP

CFDD

DOL Addresses Definition of Designated Investment Alternatives for Purposes of Required Participant Fee Disclosures
"The issue that has generated more attention and discussion regarding both the participant (404a-5) and the service provider (408b-2) regulations is the issue of what constitutes a designated investment alternative (DIA).... The issue is significant because an employer annually must provide participants a significant amount of investment information with respect to each DIA. Furthermore, under the 408b-2 regulations, a covered service provider that provides a platform of DIAs in connection with recordkeeping or brokerage services would need to make annual investment disclosures about the DIAs to the plan fiduciary. In this technical update, [the authors] discuss clarifications of the definition of a DIA provided by the recently released FAB 2012-2." (SunGard Relius)

401(k) Essentials Plus Series, Ten 100-minute modules   [Advert.]

Everything you need to know about 401(k) plans, but were afraid to ask! Each session, such as loans, ADP/ACP testing, 408(b)(2) disclosure, or cross-tested design, is available individually or as part of the series. Click here for information.

IRS Proposals for Encouraging Longevity Annuities Might Not Impress 401(k) Sponsors
"[T]here are potential liability issues. For example, while many insur.ance companies offer such products (including several launched within the past year), each insurer offers only its own solution. That undermines a plan sponsor's fiduciary duty to prudently select investment options.... The plan sponsor also has a duty to pick an insurer that will be able to make annuity payments long into the future. 'You've got to pick a provider that's going to be around for 50 or more years,' says Robyn Credico, director of defined-contribution consulting at Towers Watson." (CFO)

Drastic Ohio Public Pension Overhaul Biggest in State History
"Retirees will see their cost of living allowances cut and workers will be told to put in more years, pay more money into the system and accept a lesser benefit at the end of a long career, if the bills become law. Pension officials, who have been begging lawmakers to take action for nearly three years, say the changes are needed to shore up their finances for the long haul and to allow them to avert drastic cutbacks in health care benefits for current and future retirees." (Dayton Daily News)

Good-Faith Efforts Already Taken to Comply with Participant Fee Regs Won't Be Penalized, EBSA Says
"[Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration] said plans that have already distributed, or are getting ready to distribute, their participant-level fee disclosures under Section 404(a) of [ERISA] will not be subject to DOL enforcement action if they acted in good faith to comply with the rule [prior to the recent issuance by the EBSA of 'Frequently Asked Questions' about the fee disclosure regulations].... However, Borzi cautioned that plans that discover they were not in totally in compliance with the participant disclosure rule in light of the FAQs will need to develop a plan to comply with the law before their next participant disclosure." (Bloomberg BNA)

Trends from the 2012 Fiduciary Survey of Investment Advisors and Registered Representatives
"The survey not only sought advisors' opinions on the fiduciary standard but also gauged their understanding of what such a standard means now, or would mean, to their businesses. Key findings in the first report on the survey pointed out that registered reps and investment advisors in the field believe that extending the fiduciary standard would not cost investors more for advice, limit access to advice or products nor price investors out of the market for advice." (AdvisorOne)

401(k) Option Still a Sore Point in Kansas Public Employees Retirement System Talks
"A six-member legislative panel negotiating House-Senate differences on reform of the state's public employee pension system plans to meet again Tuesday after House members have mulled over a Senate offer of a cash balance plan.... [T]he Senate isn't offering employees even an option of a 401(k)-style plan coveted by conservatives.... [A Kansas Representative] said that while the guaran.teed benefit that the cash balance provides would likely be more attractive to older employees closer to retirement, younger employees, if given the choice, might want to take on the risk of a 401(k)-type plan for the shot at a higher return. " (cjonline.com)

Research Supports Limits on Number of Concurrent Loans from a 401(k) Plan
"The research, which analyzed 2010 data for roughly a quarter mil.lion participants in seven large, defined-contribution retirement plans that are administered by Vanguard, found that 401(k) loans are much more common in plans that allow multiple loans." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Young Workers Want Guaran.teed Income Option in 401(k) Plans
"Fully 95% of workers under 30 who don't have access to a guaran.teed income option at work said that they'd like to be able to do so, according to a poll ... by The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. Those numbers remained high for individuals in their 30s and 40s, too. About nine of 10 individuals in both age cohorts said that they would like to turn some portion of their retirement savings into guaran.teed income[.]" (Investment News; free registration required)

Employer Agrees to Restore $1.3 Mil.lion to Employee Retirement Plan
"In a consent judgment entered this month in the U.S. District Court's Central District in Los Angeles, officers of ... Western Mixers Inc. agreed to restore $802,901 to participants' accounts within 10 days. During the course of the investigation leading up to the lawsuit, the company repaid to the plan $485,000 of the total funds identified as missing. The consent judgment fully recovers unpaid contributions and unauthorized withdrawals, plus interest." (Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Recent Case Emphasizes Importance of the Retirement Plan Fiduciary Decision-Making Process
"[T]he recent district court decision in Tussey v. ABB, Inc., which levied a $35.2 mil.lion judgment against the employer-fiduciary (ABB), emphasizes the importance of a prudent decision-making process. Here are some of the major missteps made by ABB and the key takeaways for other plan fiduciaries[.]" (Poyner Spruill)

Examining Income Replacement During Retirement in a DC Plan System (PDF)
"The [ERISA Advisory Council] is examining the topic of income replacement in a predominantly DC plan retirement system. The examination will focus on: A. What are the challenges participants face in making their account balances in DC plans last for the length of their retirement years, including improved longevity? B. What are some of the alternative options available to participants that would be helpful in their efforts to make their accumulated savings last over their retirement lives or the lives of their spouses? C. What are the considerations and challenges plan sponsors encounter when making some alternative options available to plan participants? D. What are the considerations and challenges faced by plan sponsors in providing education outreach for participants regarding the available income replacement options?" (2012 ERISA Advisory Council)

PBGC to Request Comments on Information Collection for Locating and Paying Participants
"The collection consists of information participants and beneficiaries are asked to provide in connection with an application for benefits. In addition, in some instances, as part of an effort to identify participants and beneficiaries who may be entitled to benefits, the PBGC requests individuals to provide identifying information that the individual would provide as part of an initial contact with the PBGC. All requested information is needed to enable the PBGC to determine benefit entitlements and to make appropriate payments." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)

Text of Comments to IRS by Pension Action Center Urging IRS to Retain Strict Requirement of Providing Notices to Separated Plan Participants
"The Pension Action Center is writing to comment on the letter sent to your office by [ASPPA], dated December 20, 2011. ASPPA requested clarification of the Internal Revenue Code's notice requirement for separated plan participants who are listed on IRS Form 8955-SSA. ASPPA argued that plans should not have to provide separate notices of deferred vested pensions to plan participants because plans already satisfy this notice requirement with 'benefit statements and other documents.' The Pension Action Center strongly disagrees with ASPPA's interpretation[.]" (Pension Action Center, Gerontology Institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston)

Many Experience Challenges Regaining Employment and Face Reduced Retirement Security
"The number of workers age 55 and over experiencing long-term unemployment has grown substantially since the recession began in 2007. This raises concerns about how long-term unemployment will affect older workers' reemployment prospects and future retirement income.... GAO examined (1) how older workers' employment status has changed since the recession, (2) what risks unemployed older workers face and what challenges they experience in finding reemployment, (3) how long-term unemployment could affect older workers' retirement income, and (4) what other policies might help them return to work and what steps the Department of Labor has taken to help unemployed older workers." (Government Accountability Office)

Reinhart Employee Benefits Update, May 2012 (PDF)
Items include: Summary of Description of Material Modifications for Calendar-Year Plans; HHS Announces Proposed Regulations to Establish Health Plan Identifiers for Health Plans; IRS Publishes Proposed Regulations Imposing Fees to Fund Patient-Centered Outcomes Research; CMS Releases Guidance on Medical Loss Ratio Regulations; Ninth Circuit Rejects Claim for Equitable Relief Following SPD and Plan Document Discrepancies. (Reinhart)

Independent Contractor Misclassification: How Companies Can Minimize the Risks
"This white paper ... examines the risks posed to private businesses and governmental entities that have business models reliant upon the use of [independent contractors, or "ICs"] and other contingent workers.... address[es] how those risks typically arise and the costly consequences those risks may pose to companies and organizations using ICs.... [and] discusses the steps businesses can take to avoid or minimize IC misclassification liability, including restructuring, re-documenting, and re-implementing their business models, voluntary or government-sponsored reclassification, or redistribution of ICs through the use of a knowledgeable workforce management or staffing firm." (Pepper Hamilton LLP)

Current Challenges and Best Practices Concerning Beneficiary Designations in Retirement and Life Insur.ance Plans (PDF)
"The complexity of the rules under ERISA may, in some cases, lead to beneficiary designations that do not accurately reflect the participant's intent, and can frequently result in disputes over who is entitled to ERISA plan benefits following the death of the participant.... [E]ven when the beneficiary designation correctly indicates the participant's intent, beneficiaries may be unaware of what to do to obtain the benefit or to determine the benefit to which they are entitled.... The Council is examining this topic and intends to draft recommendations to the Secretary of Labor for consideration." (2012 ERISA Advisory Council)

The Board Institute Launches New Fiduciary Evaluation Tool
(The Board Institute)

The IRI Fact Book, 11th Edition Unveiled
(Insured Retirement Institute (IRI))

Titleist Asset Management, LTD. Names Loretta N. Heffron, MBA, AIF, CRPS, As Executive Vice President Of Retirement Plan Services
(Titleist Asset Management, Ltd.)