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"Participant Disclosures: Working with the New DOL Rules" - Encore Presentation
Nationwide on May 30, 2012 presented by SunGard Relius

CFDD

Final Fee Disclosure Requirements Addressed in DOL Field Assistance Bulletin 2012-02
Nicely describes each of the 38 FAQs. Excerpt: "The [DOL Field Assistance Bulletin, or 'FAB'] states that the DOL will take into account whether service providers and plan administrators acted in good faith based on a reasonable interpretation of the regulations and, if so, will refrain from enforcement actions as long as the service provider or plan administrator has a transition plan for conforming to the requirements of the FAB." (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)

Retirement & Benefit Compliance Customer Conference   [Advert.]

We are excited to announce our first annual Retirement & Benefit Compliance Customer Conference 2012 August 12th-14th in Chicago. Spend time learning how to best leverage your ftwilliam.com and Wolters Kluwer research tools investment. Click here for more information.

DOL Addresses Investment Disclosures to Participants About a Plan's Designated Investment Alternatives
"Do the investment disclosure requirements apply to alternatives closed to new investments? Yes. If participants are allowed to retain current investments in a given fund, then the comparative chart of investments must include the fund, even though participants cannot move money into the fund. The plan administrator could (but need not) limit the disclosures to those participants invested in the fund." (SunGard Relius)

Former Chief of Colorado State Pension Plan Calls 401(k) Savings Model a 'Failure'
"We can no longer talk in terms of 'plain vanilla' defined benefit or defined contribution plans. Instead, we see a blending of features to meet the unique needs of particular jurisdictions. However, pooling of investment and longevity risk in a base-defined benefit plan remains the low cost provider of a retirement dollar.... The real story is that Americans in general are unprepared for retirement. They typically have no resources to support them if they should become unable to work, let alone sustain them in retirement. The 401(k) experiment is a failure. The social service cost implication of this situation is not being acknowledged and will become a huge burden in the future [said Meredith Williams, former executive director of the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association]." (Governing)

DOL Alleges Idaho Plan Administrator Misused Retirement Funds
"[DOL] has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho against Matthew D. Hutcheson alleging that he violated [ERISA]. The complaint alleges that, toward the end of 2010, Hutcheson used more than $3.2 mil.lion representing the retirement plan savings of workers from multiple employers for his own personal expenses and in an attempt to purchase an interest in the Tamarack Resort—a failed ski and golf resort in Idaho. [The DOL alleges that the resulting] prohibited transaction has left affected retirement plans without sufficient funds to pay participants all the benefits owed to them." (Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Time's Up on 401(k) Fee Disclosure Compliance: New Potential Breaches of Fiduciary Duty Looming
"[Ian Dingwall, EBSA's chief accountant,] suggested that auditors call their clients to make certain that they, as plan fiduciaries, have a list of service agreements and know which ones are not in writing by July 1. A service agreement that is not in writing is not considered 'reasonable' under the DOL regulations, and therefore results in a prohibited transaction.... Putting plan auditors in the position of enforcer of the service-provider disclosure requirement is beyond the scope of an auditor's responsibility." (CFO)

Redefining Retirement: The New 'Retirement Readiness' (PDF)
"[T]he 13th Annual Transamerica Survey found low levels of 'retirement readiness' among workers, and for many, saving enough to retire by age 65 may be unrealistic.... Most workers plan to either work past age 65 and/or work part-time in retirement ... however, few workers (20 percent) have a back-up plan if they are forced into retirement sooner than expected due to life's unforeseen circumstances.... [T]he survey results illustrate important actions that can be taken by employers, the retirement industry, and policymakers to help workers achieve 'retirement readiness'[.]" (Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies)

Is Your Target-Date Fund's Glide Path Unstable?
"[A] little-recognized aspect of target-date funds is their glide paths—the way an investor's asset allocation changes over time—may change. This is not the expected change in allocations from year to year as stocks decline and bonds increase; rather it's when the entire glide path itself shifts up or down, so an investor who is 25 years old today does not have the same stock allocation as a 25 year old did five years ago. Researchers ... identified this phenomenon and assigned a metric to it, called the Glide Path Stability Score[.]" (MorningstarAdvisor)

At April Meeting, GASB Simplifies Accounting for State Retirement System Liabilities (PDF)
"At the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) meeting April 18th through the 20th, the Board voted to greatly simplify the manner of apportioning the underfunding of typical state retirement systems among the individual participating employers. But the Board retained its original proposal that those apportioned liabilities should appear as liabilities on each participating employer's balance sheet beginning as early as 2014.... What remains uncertain is what the precise effects [will be]. Of particular concern and uncertainty will be the impact of the additional liabilities on public bond markets, on the rating agencies, on legal or contractual limitations on liabilities on the part of such participating employers, and whether efforts to enact specific state laws reallocating liabilities or reducing benefits will come about as a result." (Groom Law Group)

Retirement Readiness Crisis Spurs Interest in Government-Managed Pension Plans for Participating Private Employers
"About half of Americans working in the private sector have little retirement savings, and no pension plan on which to depend. For them, the so-called three-legged retirement stool—pension plan, personal savings, government pension income—has collapsed, with state income the only leg remaining. This is the reality that lies behind talk of a pension crisis.... It's all leading to a crisis built from senior poverty, people working longer, increased demand on government programs—or a combination of all these factors." (Pension Pulse)

Combination of Fee Disclosure DOL Regs and 'Strict Liability' Under Code Section 4975 Might Be Explosive
"Though [it is possible to] get lost in the detail of timely meeting the new disclosure requirements, the real impact will occur once the dust settles, and when [there are] all manner of prohibited transactions—arising either from failure to properly disclose compensation or from what is revealed by the disclosure itself.... [One] of the most serious of the impacts of 408b2 promises to arise from application of Code section 4975, not from ERISA Section 406 to which 408b2 is connected.... Once the prohibited transaction occurs, the tax liability attaches, and there is a duty to report and pay that tax. The IRS has no ability to waive that tax—unlike the prohibited transaction penalty under ERISA." (Business of Benefits)

Text of Letter to Congress by American Benefits Council and Others, Urging DB Funding Interest Rate Stabilization (PDF)
"The undersigned organizations, which represent thousands of pension plans providing retirement benefits to millions of workers and retirees, urge immediate Congressional action to stabilize funding interest rate rules for private-sector pension plans. Without legislation to adjust for current economic conditions, the current plan funding regime will undermine job retention and growth and limit companies' ability to invest in capital improvements needed to be competitive worldwide and to maintain the economic recovery here at home. Moreover, failure to address on-going funding issues will threaten the long-term retirement security of workers and retirees." (American Benefits Council)

Delaware Court Dismisses 162(m) Claims and Denies Plaintiff's Request for Fees
"In Freedman v. Adams, a 'shareholder' brought derivative claims against the board of directors of XTO Energy alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and waste due to the board's alleged failure to structure over $40 mil.lion of executive bonuses over a three-year period in a manner that would have made them deductible under Code Sec. 162(m). Apparently, the board get religion after the lawsuit was filed and approved a Section 162(m) plan for cash bonuses shortly thereafter. However, the Delaware Chancery Court rejected all claims relating to Code Section 162(m)[.]" (Winston & Strawn LLP)

Same-S.ex Partner Benefits Bill for Federal Employees Is Up for Consideration
"[The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is moving forward with a same-s.ex measure] for federal employees. The committee will hold a markup session for the 2011 Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (S. 1910) ... which opens retirement, health, transportation and other benefits to same-s.ex domestic partners of government workers." (Government Executive)

GAO Testimony on Unemployed Older Workers Facing Long-Term Joblessness and Reduced Retirement Security
Testimony by Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, May 15, 2012. "This testimony discusses the status of unemployed older workers. The most recent recession, which began in 2007 and ended in 2009, was the worst since the Great Depression, and has been characterized by historically high levels of long-term unemployment. While it is crucial that the nation help people of all ages return to work, long-term unemployment has particularly serious implications for older workers (age 55 and over). Job loss for older workers threatens not only their immediate financial security, but also their ability to support themselves during retirement." (Government Accountability Office)

Employee Ownership Update for May 15, 2012
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses the appointment of 22 new employee ownership research fellows at Rutgers, the Employee Ownership 100 update, employees voting against executive pay, a creative approach to stock purchase plans, and multinationals setting up employee ownership plans in Zimbabwe. (National Center for Employee Ownership)

Pensionmark Retirement Group Adds Fifth Location in 2012 in San Luis Obispo, CA
(Pensionmark Retirement Group)

CPI Names Senior Manager for Internal Sales
(CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.)