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Healthcare Benefits Trends to Watch in 2014 -- Recorded
April 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Trends Institute)

Final CMS 2015 Pay Notice and Call Letter: Implications and Strategies for MA and Part D
April 23, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

32nd Annual Forum
April 24, 2014 in PA
(PEBA (Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association))

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Appleton
April 29, 2014 in WI
(SunGard Relius)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Detroit
April 29, 2014 in MI
(SunGard Relius)

Form 5500
April 29, 2014 in PA
(PEBA (Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association))

Private Exchanges: Avoiding Regulatory Pitfalls in the Post-ACA World
May 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

DCIO Market Forum
June 19, 2014 in NY
(Financial Research Associates)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of PBGC Proposed Regs: Title IV Treatment of Rollover from Defined Contribution Plan to Defined Benefit Plan
"This proposed rule would amend PBGC's regulations on allocation of assets and benefits payable in terminated single-employer plans to clarify the treatment of benefits resulting from a rollover distribution from a defined contribution plan or other qualified trust to a defined benefit plan, if the defined benefit plan was terminated and trusteed by PBGC. This proposed clarification of Title IV treatment of rollovers is part of PBGC's efforts to enhance retirement security by promoting lifetime income options." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC])  

[Advert.]

Please join us for our 3rd Annual ftwilliam.com Customer Conference!

Sign-up for our 3rd Annual ftwilliam.com Customer Conference, August 3-5 in downtown Chicago! Earn CE credits while learning about the latest industry news and trends, interacting with your peers, and learning more about your ftwilliam.com software tools.

IRS Issues Final Version of FATCA Exemption Form W-8BEN-E
"The revised form makes some changes to the provisions that may apply to retirement plans, including Part XII for nonreporting financial institutions pursuant to an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), and Part XV, Exempt Retirement Plans. The revisions to Part XV include the addition of references to IGAs ... [T]he accompanying instructions to W-8BEN-E, which in IRS custom often include important additional guidance for completing the form, have not yet been issued." (Groom Law Group)  

Amicus Briefs in Support of Plaintiffs in the Fifth Third Case, Filed by AARP, AFL-CIO, Law School Professors, and U.S. Solicitor General
"The amicus briefs filed in support of the plaintiffs (Dudenhoeffer, and the other Respondents) focus the changed circumstances of the pension plan landscape since ERISA was enacted in 1974, and practical examples of the impact a presumption would have on litigation going forward." (Via James E. Arnold & Associates, LPA)  

Court Decides Pension Plan of St. Peter's Healthcare System is Not a 'Church' Plan
"Although both sides put forth multiple levels of arguments depending on how the court would rule (legal arguments, factual arguments, and constitutional arguments), the court started and stopped with the parties' legal arguments as to exact meaning of the definition of the church plan exemption found in ERISA.... In addressing the many contrary IRS rulings, including the one issued for the Saint Peter's plan, the court found that because the plain text of the statute is clear, it had no reason or need to defer to the opinion of the IRS.... The court further found in rejecting the IRS letter issued to the plan, 'the IRS private letter ruling is conclusory, lacking any statutory analysis, and cannot be used as precedent because the ruling was issued in a non-adversarial setting based on information supplied by SPHS.'" [Kaplan v. Saint Peter's Healthcare System, No. 1 3-2941 (D.N.J. Mar. 31, 2014)] (FRA PlanTools, LLC)  

New 401(k) Plan Sponsor Fiduciary Worry: Study Reveals Previously Unpublicized Conflict of Interest Can Harm Mutual Fund Performance
"A [new] study ... has discovered a previously underreported hidden conflict-of-interest in many mutual funds that can cost investors significantly in terms of performance. Unlike other conflicts-of-interest (like 12b-1 fees and revenue sharing), this particular conflict-of-interest is not disclosed in the mutual fund prospectus. It's almost impossible for a retail investor to find and uncovering it in specific situations can tax even the most ardent professional adviser." (Fiduciary News)  

[Advert.]

How Will Your Benefit Plans Navigate Today's Stormy Seas?

BOSTON, May 4-7. Earn 15.5 HRCI credits. 45+ expert-led sessions on such critical issues as ACA's play or pay rules, private exchanges, avoiding ERISA litigation, retirement plan fees and much more. Register by April 11 and save $100.

Detroit's Revised Bankruptcy Exit Plan Would Increase Pain for Some Retirees
"For police and fire retirees the potential cuts would rise to 6 percent from 4 percent in the previous plan in the case of a timely settlement, and to 14 percent from 10 percent if the plan is rejected and money pledged by foundations and the state of Michigan for retirees is not forthcoming. The range of cuts to general city worker retirees remained the same at 26 percent with a settlement and 34 percent without." (Reuters)  

The Fiscal Health of State Pension Plans: Funding Gap Continues to Grow
"New data for fiscal year 2012 show that state-run retirement systems had a $914 billion shortfall. When promises by local governments were factored in, the total pension debt was over $1 trillion.... In spite of recent strong investment returns, the new data show that the funding gap for state plans has continued to grow -- increasing by $157 billion from 2010 to 2012." (The Pew Charitable Trusts)  

SEC to Finalize Money Market Fund Final Rule by May
"The regulator is once again crafting a plan that would force prime institutional MMFs to float the net asset value (NAV). However, the SEC is also considering complaints it has received from the MMF industry and is looking into exempting certain MMFs from having to float their share price. Specifically, the SEC is considering broadening its definition of retail MMFs, which are exempt from the floating NAV in the plan[.]" (Association for Financial Professionals)  

Is Pension Coverage a Problem in the Private Sector?
"Commentators question whether pension coverage is a serious problem, indicating that 80 percent have access to a plan. But this number refers to access -- not participation -- and to full-time workers in both the public and private sectors. A review of four household surveys and one employer survey finds that only about half of all private workers (age 25-64) are participating in a plan." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

DC Plan Sponsors Evaluate Whether Current Investment Options Achieve Participant Retirement Income Needs
"Of those plan sponsors already offering TDFs, 12 percent currently use custom funds rather than proprietary or pre-packaged options. [A recent] poll suggests that percentage is rising as more than a third (37 percent) of those surveyed said their organization is likely or somewhat likely to implement or revise custom target date solutions in the next 18 months." (SEI)  

Cross Trading by Investment Advisers: Implications for Mutual Fund Performance (PDF)
"Using a unique dataset [the authors] provide new evidence on the significant penalty on client fund performance due to conflicts of interest related to the cross trading (TCT) activities of mutual fund advisers: funds managed by advisers in the top TCT quintile significantly underperform funds managed by advisers in the bottom TCT quintile by 1% per year. Adviser incentives to engage in cross trading are directly related to their opportunities for generating revenues from affiliated trading operations. Additional tests suggest that the significantly higher trading commissions paid by client funds of high-TCT advisers are a major source of their under-performance." (Prof. Lorenzo Casavecchia of the Univ. of Technology Sydney; Prof. Ashish Tiwari of the Univ. of Iowa)  

Multiemployer Pension Protection Version 2.0: More Robust Legislation Needed to Address Plans' Funding Challenges
"Failure to extend the PPA would have 'detrimental effects' on both multiemployer plans that are operating under recovery programs, and those that might eventually need to do so, the [American Academy of Actuaries' Pension Practice Council] says.... It cites several challenges driving the need for a more robust successor multiemployer plan funding regime, including: [1] The exhaustion of funds that faces the most severely underfunded plans.... [2] Financial jeopardy for the PBGC's multiemployer insurance program itself, caused by the looming insolvency of many multiemployer plans and PBGC's current deficit." (American Academy of Actuaries)  

Participation Rate in 401(k) Plans Greater for Men than Women
"Although the data show fewer women participating in plans, the investments that women choose appear to be slightly more diversified with 70% of women meeting a minimum level of diversification -- a minimum of two equities and a fixed fund and less than 20% in employer stock -- in their 401(k) account investments versus 67% of men. The difference has been stable for the last two years. One potential driver of this difference in diversification is the use of managed investment options: 74% of women have money in managed investments, versus 71% of men." (Wells Fargo)  

European Commission Issues Long-Awaited Revised Pension Directive
"The Directive would [1] remove remaining barriers for cross-border [Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provisions (IORPs)], [2] provide additional rules for pension governance and risk management; and [3] adopt an EU-wide uniform participant benefit statement. What the Directive does not do is consider new defined benefit plan funding and solvency rules." (Groom Law Group)  

Tussey v. ABB: Opening Up New Avenues for Excessive Fee Litigation and Putting the Final Nail in the Coffin of Hecker v. Deere
"[O]ne of the most important parts of the holding in Tussey v. ABB was not the float issue, heavily focused on by most reports, but the Eighth Circuit's ringing rejection of the thesis, pressed by the Seventh Circuit in Hecker, that it was enough to defeat an excessive fee claim that a plan provided a range of investment options with a range of fees; the Eighth Circuit ... put a well-deserved end to that line of argument[.]" (Stephen Rosenberg of The McCormack Firm, LLC)  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by U.S. Chamber of Commerce to PBGC on Multiemployer Plans; Proposed Valuation and Notice Requirements (PDF)
"This proposed rule acknowledges this reality and eliminates notice requirements where the administrative burdens and costs outweigh the usefulness of the information provided. As such, we appreciate the PBGC's review of these notice requirements and recognition that certain requirements are not furthering the goals of the PBGC or protecting the interests of participants." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)  

[Opinion]

The Problem of 401(k) Mapping to Dominated Funds
"[T]he problem of dominated funds suggests a simple reform ... But a recent decision suggests the possibility of an even more pernicious problem. Instead of failing to map participants' investments away from dominated funds, Tussey vs. ABB, Inc. suggests the possibility that fiduciaries at times might be eliminating funds and mapping these investments toward high-cost dominated funds." (Prof. Ian Ayres of Yale Law School, in Forbes)  

How to Create a Benefits Plan That Appeals to the Young and Cool
"Millennials care about their benefits.... Millennials want to choose what type of coverage they get.... Millennials have competing benefit offers; they need to be courted.... Millennials want real-time, instant information ... But they also crave face-to-face mentorship.... Insurance Cards will no longer do the trick." (Forbes)  

April and May 2014 Filing and Notice Deadlines for Qualified Retirement and Health & Welfare Plans
"[This] filing and notice deadline table provides key filing and notice deadlines common to calendar year plans for the next two months. Please note that the deadlines will be different if your plan year is not the calendar year. Please also note that the table does not include all applicable filing and notice deadlines, just the most common ones." (King & Spalding)  

The Continuing Evolution of Executive Retirement Benefit Arrangements
"Although the percentage of U.S. employers that sponsor nonqualified defined benefit (NQDB) retirement plans continues to decline, reflecting the closing or freezing of many broad-based DB plans, most of the organizations surveyed (71%) continue to provide some type of employer-paid arrangement (NQDB and/or nonqualified defined contribution plans). On average, these plans deliver an additional 5% to 7% of earnings in annual retirement income to a mid-level executive." (Towers Watson)  

ING U.S. Launches New Online Personal Financial Planning and Budgeting Solution
ING U.S.

Great Lakes Employee Benefit Services Changes Name, Combines with McGraw Wentworth
McGraw Wentworth

Health Policy Leader Alan Weil To Become New Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief
Health Affairs

Scott Schaerer Joins Pentegra Retirement Services as Regional Director to Spearhead Business Development on West Coast
Pentegra Retirement Services

Pensionmark Retirement Group and Retirement Plan Solutions Partner in Milwaukee, WI
Pensionmark Retirement Group

CFDD Launches Liquid Alternatives Website Resource Page For DC Plans
Center for Due Diligence

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