Plan Document Specialist
Lincoln Financial Group
in ANY STATE

Manager, 401k New Business
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
in PA

Pension Administrator/Operations Liaison
Associated Pension Consultants
in CA

Group Benefits Trainer
AUL/ OneAmerica Financial Partners
in IN

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2014 Retirement Plan Regulatory Update
August 20, 2014 WEBCAST
(Multnomah Group)

2014 Employee Benefits Fall Seminar
September 10, 2014 in CO
(Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP)

2014 Employee Benefits Fall Seminar
September 17, 2014 in MO
(Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP)

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[Guidance Overview]

SEC Adopts Reforms for Money Market Funds
"The lengthy SEC adopting release ... covers many technical areas of MMF regulation. Key features of the Final Rule include amendments to Rule 2a-7 ... that require institutional prime MMFs to use a floating NAV, impose default liquidity fees on non-governmental MMFs when certain conditions are present ... and give MMFs the flexibility to institute liquidity fees and/or redemption gates under certain conditions if the board determines they are in the best interest of the fund." (Ropes & Gray LLP)  

[Advert.]

ASPPA Annual Conference on October 26-29 in Washington DC

We don't just set the bar, we're constantly raising the bar for America's Retirement. And we unleash that tenacity at every ASPPA Annual Conference.

Get Started Now on 401(k) Plan Changes for January 1, 2015
"If you haven't reviewed your vendor fees in 3 to 5 years ... you will be surprised at the changes.... Use this provider review to evaluate your fund line-up.... Make sure that the investment adviser you work with has signed on to your plan as a fiduciary.... Work with providers that are right for your culture." (Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants)  

Are You Selling or Downsizing a U.S. Business? Plant Closing Liability Relief May Be Coming
"[T]he 'plant closing rule' has caused a stir in recent years as the [PBGC] began aggressively pursuing defined benefit plan sponsors to enforce it.... [Recently] the PBGC announced a moratorium on enforcement of Section 4062(e) through December 31, 2014.... [T]he Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee [has] approved by bipartisan vote a bill (S. 2511) amending the procedures under Section 4062(e) to limit the situations in which liability may be imposed." (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)  

Seventh Circuit Finds Right to Acquire Stock Held in Escrow Created a Controlling Interest Sufficient to Impose Withdrawal Liability
"[T]he Seventh Circuit held that an individual's right to acquire stock in a corporation gave him a controlling interest in the corporation ... This controlling interest placed the liable corporation in a controlled group with the other corporations owned by the shareholder, for purposes of withdrawal liability ... The Seventh Circuit relied on the language of the Assignment Agreement ... [which] explicitly assigned to [the individual] the right to demand the shares is escrow." [Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. CLP Venture LLC, Nos. 13-3010, 13-3776 (7th Cir. July 29, 2014)] (Practical Law Company)  

Navigating the Minefield of Fiduciary Liability as a 401(k) Plan Sponsor
"[T]he vast majority of 401k plans are offered by small employers, who may have no meaningful understanding of the fiduciary responsibilities they and their plan administrator have taken on by offering the plan.... Selecting a suitable and appropriate 401k plan, and its administration thereafter, are not simply annoying administrative tasks to be delegated to any staff person or senior executive who might appear to have some financial acumen or business sense. This is no place for amateurs." (Robert C. Port, of Gaslowitz Frankel LLC, via 401kHelpCenter.com)  

[Advert.]

Don't Leave Your Healthcare and Retirement Plans to Chance!

Join industry experts & colleagues for 50+ educational sessions targeting critical issues and trends affecting employee benefits. Leave with the tools you need to manage your plans AND earn 14.5 HRCI credits. Register by Aug. 15 and save $100.

Pension Problems in Illinois: Do the Voters Believe It? [VIDEO]
14-minute video segment from Chicago's public TV station. "Pension liabilities continue to plague the state's fiscal health yet legislation attempting to fix the problem are stuck in the court system. Some lawmakers are looking to amend the constitution in order to fix the problem down the road. How will these plans shake out and who will be on the hook for the money the state does not have to pay its workers? [Discussion] with Republican state Rep. Thomas Morrison, University of Chicago professor of law Julie Roin, and president of Illinois Federation of Teachers Dan Montgomery." (WTTW)  

To DB or Not to DB ... That Is the Target Date Question
"DC plan sponsors need to be aware: 'DB-ization' can easily overcomplicate TDFs for both sponsors and participants, as well as increase costs, reduce transparency, and create entirely new risks. What's more, even the most sophisticated strategies are not guaranteed to deliver the desired results.... The problem with this concept of the DB-ization of TDFs? DC plans are just not DB plans." (Vanguard)  

Is Outsourcing of Your Company's DB Plan Administration Right for You?
"Outsourcing is more relevant than ever, but it's become so specialized that it's best handled by experts who do it as their core business. DB plan outsourcing was once very expensive, but technology and economies of scale have made outsourcing much more affordable.... [R]easons why DB plan sponsors should consider outsourcing: [1] The changing of the guard... [2] Participant convenience... [3] Plan sponsor convenience... [4] It takes a village." (Milliman Retirement Town Hall)  

Liability-Driven Investment (LDI) Solutions for Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors
"For more than a decade, corporate plan sponsors have been riding a funded status roller coaster. This experience has forced plan sponsors to focus more than ever on managing funded status volatility, contribution surprises and their potential impact on the corporation, its shareholders and plan participants. Well aware that a mismatch in interest rate exposure between plan assets and liabilities represents a significant but 'hedgeable' risk, many sponsors are reassessing traditional asset-only investment practices and shifting toward asset/liability-aware strategies." (J.P. Morgan Asset Management)  

New is Not Necessarily Better, and Could Be Worse
"Applied to pensions, adding too much complexity by trying something untested and/or sold as 'the next big thing' can spell trouble.... [T]ransactions that are hard to explain make it difficult for an investor to 'appropriately identify the right benchmark to track performance.' When that occurs, tasks such as portfolio rebalancing, assessment as to whether fees paid are 'reasonable' and/or constructing an effective hedge strategy are difficult to achieve." (Pension Risk Matters)  

S&P 1500 Pension Funding Deficits Remain Above Year-End 2013 Levels
"The estimated aggregate funding level of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies remained at 85% as of the end of July 2014.... The collective estimated deficit of $340 billion as of July 31, 2014, is up $10 billion from the estimated deficit of $330 billion as of June 30, 2014, and up $103 billion from the beginning of the year[.]" (Mercer)  

Text of Executive Order by New Jersey Governor Establishing Commission to Study State Pension System (PDF)
"The Study Commission shall examine the history of the State's existing pension and health benefit systems in order to understand what has put the systems in their current state; reform by other government entities; pension and health benefits provided in the private sector; and other factors it deems relevant in order to develop its recommendations regarding pension and health benefit reforms that will strengthen the systems' financial standing with less cost to the taxpayers while providing public employees and retirees with an appropriate level of benefits." (Gov. Chris Christie, State of New Jersey)  

Smartphone Usage Up Among Retirement Plan Participants
"Smartphone usage among DC plan participants is up significantly from last year (71 percent), which PC/Mac usage has remained basically unchanged (79 percent). Tablet or e-reader usage is trending upward from 57 percent in 2013." (Spectrem Group)  

[Opinion]

Unconventional Wisdom on Retirement Preparedness
"There are at least three reasons why adequacy standards in the typical replacement rate study are too high: [1] Assumptions about the pattern of savings over workers' life cycles raise the standard for younger workers.... [2] The assumption that household expenses don't change when households transition from work to retirement raises the standard.... [3] The assumption that household expenses remain flat throughout retirement raises the standard.... The danger of accepting the conventional wisdom is two-fold. First, the notion of a widespread shortfall deflects attention from those groups actually at risk in retirement ... Second, it obscures the fact that the U.S. retirement system works well for the majority of households." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])  

[Opinion]

Target Date Funds: No Happily Ever After in This Fairy Tale
"Investors are paying less for a strategy that many of their peers also find attractive. That's economically gratifying and socially validating. Unfortunately, participants cannot count on target-date funds to achieve their objectives. The rationale for TDF investing sounds sensible, but the strategy may not make the most of their payday contributions or reduce uncertainty as retirement approaches. Quite the contrary." (Research Affiliates)  

Research Shows Equity Award Practices at Companies Completing Private Equity-Backed IPOs
"Much of the general buzz in the market often surrounds high-growth IPOs that are founder- and/or venture capital-sponsored. However, there's been a significant volume of recent private equity-sponsored IPOs. At these companies, the executive compensation programs -- especially the equity and long-term incentive (LTI) plans -- often look quite different from those of other IPO organizations." (Towers Watson)  

Great-West Financial Builds Upon Retirement Services Leadership In Government Markets
Great-West Financial

Employers Worldwide Step Up Investments in Workers’ Wellness; Look to Wellness to Drive Company Performance
Buck Consultants

Dietrich & Associates Assists OneAmerica In Conducting Inaugural Pension Risk Transfer
Dietrich & Associates, Inc.

Donald J. Settina Is Certified For Fiduciary Excellence
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

New Fiduciary Awareness Quiz Helps Plan Sponsors Understand Their Fiduciary Obligations and Responsibilities
Guardian

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