ASPPA

Retirement Plan Administrator
Actuarial Consultants, Inc.
in CA

401(k) Administrator
TPS Group
in CT

Manager, Defined Contributions Operations
Employee Benefit Firm
in DC, MD, PA, VA

Advisor's Assistant
RiverSource LLC
in GA

Defined Benefit Client Services Manager
Charles Schwab
in OH, TX

Vice President, Retirement Planning Services
USI Consulting Group
in IL, KY, WV

Compliance & Technical System Consultant
USI Consulting Group
in CT

Transition Manager - Client Integration
Transamerica
in NY

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PPA Pre-approved Plan Web Seminar - PPD Document
July 7, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

What the New Healthcare Law Means for Your Small Business
July 10, 2014 WEBCAST
(Small Business Majority)

PPA Pre-approved Plan Web Seminar - Corbel Document
July 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Tax Obligations for International Investments and Retirement Plans
July 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(McGladrey LLP)

Defined Benefits 415 Calculations Plus
July 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(ASC [Actuarial Systems Corporation])

Private Exchange Strategies for Insurers: What’s Working? What’s Not?
August 6, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

Hot Issues in Executive Compensation 2014
September 12, 2014 WEBCAST
(Practising Law Institute)

Dual-Eligibles Programs: Initial Results, Successes and Remaining Challenges
September 17, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

Actions for ESOP Fiduciaries in the Wake of Supreme Court's Dudenhoeffer Decision (PDF)
"ESOP fiduciaries should obtain ERISA fiduciary training, to understand their responsibilities and the duty of prudence.... Monitor ongoing developments, especially as Congress may consider legislation to support employee stock ownership in privately held companies.... A written investment policy statement for the ESOP should be adopted ... [which] should describe the role of the fiduciaries, the role of the Board of Directors, and ... what alternative courses of action are available to the fiduciaries.... ESOP fiduciaries who 'wear two hats,' also serving as officers, employees or directors of the ESOP sponsor, should consider engaging an independent fiduciary." [Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014)] (Wilkins Finston Law Group)  

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Easily administer traditional, multiple formula, cash balance and DC/DB combo plans with ASC's DB System! Click here to learn how.

IRS Grants Form 5500 Penalty Relief for Non-ERISA Plans
"[A]lthough reasonable cause arguments can be effective at eliminating IRS late-filed Form 5500 penalties, it is a less desirable method of addressing these concerns due to the subjectivity associated with the establishment of reasonable cause. Therefore, a reliable and conclusive method of eliminating such penalties with respect to non-ERISA plans remained unavailable -- until now." (Legacy Retirement Solutions)  

U.S. Public Pension Funding Gaps to Widen Under New Rules
"Pensions in Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and other states will see funded levels decline, in some cases by more than half, as they comply with new Governmental Accounting Standards Board rules that for the first time will require future pension costs to be included on balance sheets and change how they must calculate their underfunding." (Bloomberg)  

Can California Local Voters Phase Out County Pensions?
"Like an initiative approved by San Diego voters two years ago, the Ventura initiative gives new county hires a 401(k)-style individual investment plan, instead of a pension, and reduces current worker costs with a five-year freeze on pensionable pay.... In the legal challenge, the key difference is that the San Diego pension plan operates under the city's laws while the Ventura County pension plan operates under a state law." (Calpensions)  

Supreme Court Rejects Presumption of Prudence But Raises Bar for ESOP Fiduciary Breach Claims
"Although some lower courts have held that deference must be provided to hard-wired plan documents, the Supreme Court ... emphasized that ERISA recognizes that the duty of prudence can conflict with the terms of a plan document ... [The] Court held that ERISA precludes a fiduciary's slavish adherence to the terms of plan documents without considering ERISA's separate obligations.... [F]iduciaries of all plans should evaluate the prudence of even mandatory plan provisions in light of Dudenhoeffer." [Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014)] (Thompson Hine)  

What Does Supreme Court Rejection of Duty of Prudence Presumption Mean for Retirement Plans?
"[C]ases involving private companies tend to revolve around the price paid for the stock, and other issues involving conflicts of interest, corporate waste and other malfeasance that diminish shareholder value -- none of which involves the presumption of prudence. That being said, Dudenhoeffer is still very relevant to private companies insofar as it clearly eviscerates the legal argument that ESOPs and other retirement plans that hold employer stock have 'special' purposes -- seemingly affecting any decision to buy, hold or sell employer stock[.]" [Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014)] (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)  

Supreme Court Sets High Bar for Plausibility of Employer Stock Drop Claims (PDF)
"[T]he Court has made it clear that the securities laws are in control here, not ERISA. The Court notes that such laws are complex and control both trading and disclosure obligations. Manifestly, such laws do not require disclosure by ERISA fiduciaries, but instead specify duties of disclosure that apply to others." [Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014)] (Alston & Bird, LLP)  

Supreme Court Does Away with Presumption of Prudence: What's Next for Employer Stock in 401(k) Plans and ESOPs?
"Before Dudenhoeffer, some employers have required a plan to offer employer stock purportedly in the employers' 'settlor' capacity in order to arguably keep decisions related to employer stock from being deemed fiduciary decisions. The Court's opinion calls into question the continued viability of such a strategy." [Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014)] (Baker Botts LLP)  

Fiduciary Warranty, Liability Insurance Have Costly Differences
"Unlike a fiduciary warranty, a liability insurance policy tends to be more useful because it protects plan sponsors and trustees from defense cost and penalties if they are sued for fiduciary misdoings ... Avoid naming the plan sponsor as a fiduciary.... Avoid naming key corporate officers as fiduciaries.... Carefully craft delegation authority.... Define the roles of plan sponsor and fiduciaries." (Bloomberg BNA)  

And You Thought Your Life Was Complicated: A Visual History of ERISA
Infographic. Excerpt: "For the past 40 years, [ERISA] has governed the retirement plan landscape. Since its creation in 1974, ERISA has undergone more than 50 major and technical alterations and updates to reflect the changing retirement needs of employers and employees." (ShoeFitts Marketing)  

Senate Postpones Markup of Bill with Provision to Accelerate IRA Death Benefit Payouts
"The Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to consider a bill this week that includes a revenue raising provision to accelerate certain beneficiary payouts in retirement accounts. Markup of the bill has been postponed until after the Senate recess." (Ascensus)  

How Do You Know When It's Time for a New Retirement Plan Advisor?
"It's important to take the time to reevaluate your current advisor periodically ... [Here are] some signs to know when you should shop around.... Your advisor hasn't developed a strategy to identify and measure your plan's success... Your advisor isn't sharing the fiduciary liability with you... They aren't providing you with plan design and oversight advice ... The employee education program is lacking ... You don't understand your fee structure and your advisor isn't helping you understand." (AFS)  

First Quarter 2014 Benchmark: Retirement Plan Participant Investment Activity Within Charles Schwab Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts (PDF)
"[P]articipant account balances in the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA) were up 1.3 % over last quarter and up 10.6 % from a year ago bringing the average participant account balance to $ 194,545.... One notable change from a year ago was participants shedding 2% of their cash positions and [reallocating] them into ETFs -- growing them to 14% of total asset allocations. Mutual Funds still remained the top asset allocation at 41%, while Equities came in at 25%, both remaining unchanged from a year ago." (Charles Schwab)  

Retirement Assets Total $23.0 Trillion in First Quarter 2014
"Total U.S. retirement assets were $23.0 trillion as of March 31, 2014, up 1.1 percent from a downward-revised $22.7 trillion on December 31, 2013. Retirement savings accounted for 34 percent of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of the first quarter of 2014." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])  

Low-Cost Target Date Index Funds Reshaping Market for Small Business Retirement Plans
"Target date index funds (TDIFs) are universally available.... TDIFs represent a baseline investment strategy.... TDIFs change the fundamentals of value added for investment advisors.... TDIFs change the responsibilities for both employees and the employer -- for the better." (Employee Fiduciary)  

What Happens When the Limitations Provision in the Plan as Applied Creates an Impossible Accrual Date?
"The plan contained a deadline for commencing legal action of three years from the date that the proof of claim was due. The plaintiff could not have sued within three years of the date that proof of claim was due because he received benefits for two years and did not exhaust his internal remedies until after three years from proof of claim.... The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in the defendants' favor and dismissed the complaint with prejudice on the ground that it was not filed within the contractual limitations period found in the plan." [Nathan v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, No. 13-cv-8706 (N.D. Ill. June 25, 2014) (Ogletree Deakins)  

Trap for the Unwary: Employee Benefit Plans and the Fiduciary Exception to the Attorney-Client Privilege
"Both the settlor exception and the liability exception to the fiduciary exception are grounded in the identity of interest between the fiduciary and beneficiary. The attorney-client privilege tends to be preserved where the fiduciary's interest and the beneficiary's interest have sufficiently diverged.... Indicative of divergent interests is the retention of counsel by a beneficiary, the threat of litigation, and the discussion of potential litigation." (The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel)  

Start Assembling Resources for Pay Ratio Disclosure for Use in 2016 Proxy Season
"[C]ompanies should be setting their compliance strategy by: [1] finding out where the data is held and the number of payroll systems involved, [2] determining which data elements can be isolated in a particular country, [3] understanding the different elements of compensation in various countries, [4] mapping the workforce, [5] understanding where data gaps exist and [6] thinking about data privacy issues." (Bloomberg BNA)  

Report Claims Wal-Mart's Executive Pay Plan Exploits Tax Break
"A report by two Washington groups takes Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to task for exploiting performance-based pay breaks in Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) to subsidize excessive executive compensation at taxpayer expense. The retailer, which is the largest private employer in the U.S., saved about $104 million over the past six years by deducting performance-based compensation paid to eight top executives, said the June 4 report[.]" (Bloomberg BNA)  

Compensated Study Seeking Employee Benefits Brokers, Producers and Consultants
JR Research Inc.

IRI: Send NARAB II to the President
Insured Retirement Institute [IRI]

bswift and GetInsured Announce Private Health Insurance Exchange Partnership
bswift

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