ASPPA

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NFP
in NC, SC

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TIAA CREF
in ANY STATE

Document Analyst
TIAA CREF
in ANY STATE

Temporary Retirement Plan Operations Analyst
Milliman
in CA

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Stones River Consulting
in ANY STATE

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Growing Pension Company
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New Developments in Executive Compensation
October 30, 2014 WEBCAST
(Conference Board, The)

Affordable Care Act Tasks: HPIDs and Transitional Reinsurance
November 5, 2014 WEBCAST
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

Retirement Plan Fee Litigation: The Plaintiff's Perspective
November 20, 2014 in CA
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter)

ESOP Distribution Policies
November 25, 2014 WEBCAST
(National Center for Employee Ownership)

Keeping Current
December 2, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

1099-R: An Ongoing Challenge
December 8, 2014 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

Qualified Retirement Plan Amendments and IRS Filings: Do You Need to Amend or File in 2014?
"Plans that define 'spouse' or 'marriage' in a manner that excludes married couples of the same sex may need to be amended no later than December 31, 2014.... Plan sponsors who have added optional features to a retirement plan during 2014 (e.g., a plan loan feature) must ensure the relevant amendments are signed no later than December 31, 2014 (for calendar year plans).... 'Cycle D' plans ... will generally need to be amended and restated no later than January 31, 2015. Note: if a Cycle D plan has discretionary amendments, those amendments still must be adopted by December 31, 2014 (for calendar year plans)." (Alston & Bird LLP)  

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Required 2014 Qualified Retirement Plan Amendments and Cycle D Determination Letter Filing Deadline
"The [IRS] publishes an annually updated cumulative list that provides the latest statutory and regulatory changes that must be included in plan documents.... The 2014 Cumulative List should be issued in late October or early November and applies to Cycle D determination letter applications (to be submitted between February 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015).... This Article summarizes amendments that plans may be required to adopt for the 2014 plan year as well as plan document considerations for plans that are scheduled to apply for an IRS determination letter under Cycle D." (Practical Law Company)  

De-Risking At Risk? Lawmakers Urge Changes
"[I]n a letter addressed to the heads of the IRS, Department of Labor, PBGC and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ron Wyden, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions urge these agencies 'to consider clarifying all of the circumstances and conditions under which de-risking strategies are permissible in the absence of a formal plan termination' and 'to move forward expeditiously with rules to protect plan participants.' While acknowledging the right of employers to terminate parts of their plans, the Senators want guidance requiring advance notice and expanded disclosure of the risks to participants, and new rules to clarify the standards that apply to the choice of an annuity provider and other fiduciary duties involved." (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)  

Extended Predicted Lifespans May Increase Interest in Lifetime Distribution Options
"Since 2000 men's average life expectancies have increased 2 years and women's average life expectancy increased 2.4 years.... The Wall Street Journal reported that this increase in life expectancy could eventually increase retirement liabilities by roughly 7% for most [defined benefit] pension plans.... While defined contribution [DC] plans provide a mechanism for accumulating an account balance and most do not have an obligation to pay benefits in the form on lifetime annuities ... this change in life expectancies will also impact [DC] plans by potentially exerting pressure on plan sponsors to consider to amend the [DC] plans to add a mechanism that permits employees to elect a distribution method that will last over the employee's lifetime." (Winstead PC)  

Do You Need to Send an Annual Notice to Your Defined Contribution Plan Participants?
"[A] table provides a list of the content and deadlines for the most common notices that plan sponsors may need to distribute. It includes: [1] Traditional Safe Harbor 401(k) Notice; [2] Qualified Automatic Contribution Arrangements for a Safe Harbor 401(k) Notice; [3] Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement Notice; [4] Qualified Default Investment Alternative Notice (QDIA); [and] [5] Non-Safe-Harbor Automatic Contribution Arrangement Notice." (Alston & Bird LLP)  

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'4-Part Harmonization' on Rollovers
"Advisors seeking to capture IRA rollovers face a 'four-part harmonization' of regulatory and other government entities -- that is, SEC, DOL, FINRA and GAO -- in the words of ERISA attorney Fred Reish.... As they look at distributions from DC plans and rollover issues, the four groups are all concerned with conflicts of interest and fees for mutual funds and advice. Reish highlighted the commonalities among the 2013 GAO report, DOL Advisory Opinion 2005-23A and FINRA Regulatory Notice 13-45. And both FINRA and the SEC included IRA rollover practices as an examination priority in 2014." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

Employer Stock Plan Fiduciaries Can Take Liability-Shielding Measures, Attorneys Say
"The Dudenhoeffer ruling, while on its face benefiting participants in employer stock plans by eliminating a common defense to suits challenging declining stock value, arguably made it more difficult for plaintiffs to bring these challenges.... [Recently] panelists discussed several possibilities, including the appointment of independent fiduciaries, removing or limiting employer stock from retirement plans and adopting plan terms that mandate investment in employer stock." (Bloomberg BNA)  

Premiums and HATFA and Hybrids, Oh My!
"Thomas Finnegan, Principal at the Savitz Organization, ... addressed [at the ASPPA 2014 Annual Conference] some of the fallout of [the Highway and Transportation Funding Act (HATFA)].... Is reporting under ERISA Section 4010 or on PBGC Form 10/200 eliminated due to HATFA? Will penalties for late reporting be refunded? May 2013 HATFA changes be explained with the 2014 annual funding notice (AFN), rather than revising or redistributing? When will changes to model AFN language regarding HATFA and its impact on contribution requirements be available?" (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

How Can Plan Sponsors Handle PBGC Premiums for Underfunding?
"The [PBGC] charges pension plans a portion of their underfunding each year. Through 2013, the charge was 0.9% of the underfunding. By 2016, that rate will triple to approximately 2.9%.... How can plan sponsors handle this? ... [An] option is to borrow money to fund the pension plan.... If a plan sponsor borrows money, funds the pension plan, and invests the borrowed proceeds in AA-rated corporate debt, it has roughly swapped one type of debt for another. The goal here is not to beat the market; the goal is to avoid paying a 'tax' of 2.9% per year." (PLANSPONSOR)  

$460 Billion in DC Plan Assets in Search of a New Home
"After years of extremely low turnover, retirement plan sponsors are giving serious consideration to altering their 401(k) plan recordkeeping relationships. With the current US-based 401(k) retirement plan assets estimated at $4.4 trillion ... assets controlled by plan sponsors planning a move represents a $460 billion opportunity for providers that can effectively differentiate themselves in an increasingly commoditized marketplace.... [F]our in 10 (40%) plan sponsors are very likely to initiate a formal review of their plan over the next year. Meanwhile, 11% of all plan sponsors are already planning to switch providers during the same period." (Cogent Reports)  

Lawsuit Contends Actuarial Firm Misled Detroit Pension Plan
"With the nation's states and cities slowly sinking in a $3 trillion pension hole, the professionals who advise their pension plans have long wondered whether the fingers of blame might eventually point to them. One of those fingers has surfaced in bankrupt Detroit, and it is singling out Gabriel, Roeder, Smith, a top actuarial consultant for public pensions, which has hundreds of clients across the country that rely on it to keep track of data, calculate required annual contributions and advise on crucial assumptions like future investment returns.... Gabriel Roeder said the three lawsuits 'are factually, legally and procedurally infirm and reflect a gross misunderstanding of the nature of actuarial services.' " (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Investment Return Assumptions by Public Pension Plans
"As of June 30, 2014 state and local government retirement systems held assets of $3.70 trillion.... [P]rojecting public pension fund investment returns requires a focus on the long-term. This brief discusses how investment return assumptions are established and evaluated and compares these assumptions with public funds' actual investment experience." (National Association of State Retirement Administrators [NASRA])  

Underfunded Multiemployer Pension Plans: A Proposal to Spread the Pain
"A small, but significant, number of multiemployer pension plans face insolvency in the next 20 years -- despite actions to reduce benefits and raise contributions. To avoid insolvency, a Commission with representatives from plans, employers, and unions has proposed allowing plans to cut accrued benefits of current workers and retirees. Critics are concerned that such a tool is unnecessary and would unfairly hurt plan participants, particularly retirees. [The authors'] analysis of one large plan suggests that the proposal would improve overall participant welfare, but leave the plan operating largely on a pay-as-you-go basis. Thus, before approving the use of such a tool, regulators should have access to detailed plan data to ensure not only solvency, but also a reasonable level of funding." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

Meet the Hedge Fund Wiz Kid Who's Shrinking America's Pensions
"A white paper on the ... website [of the Arnold Foundation, created by John Arnold,] depicts all forms of defined benefit pensions for public workers as doomed to failure, and lays out four principal ideas for addressing 'this looming crisis' in public pension funding... The paper proposes either wholly replacing traditional pensions with defined-contribution 401(k)-style plans, radically reforming the way traditional pensions are funded, or shifting to the sort of hybrid approach that [Rhode Island Treasurer] Gina Raimondo employed." (ThinkProgress)  

The Back Door Roth IRA Contribution: Unintended Tax Consequences
"The back door Roth technique involves making a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA and immediately converting it to a Roth IRA. Because the contribution to the traditional IRA is nondeductible, converting those assets to a Roth would result in no income tax upon conversion. An often overlooked aspect of this technique is that IRS rules don't allow a taxpayer to hand select which IRA assets he or she wishes to convert. If an individual has other IRA accounts, there is the potential for a tax surprise[.]" (Baker Newman Noyes)  

[Opinion]

California Faces Death by Pension
"[T]he people who benefit from CalPERS have complete control over it. Those who pay the tab have little if any say.... California's entire public-sector compensation system is absurdly generous. For instance, the median pension for a recent state Highway Patrol retiree is $98,000 a year -- available at age 50, and paid for the life of the retiree and that retiree's spouse." (The Spectator)  

Impact on Employee Benefit Plans of the Supreme Court's Recent Actions on Marriage
"[F]or employee benefit plan issues that are not dictated by the Code or ERISA -- such as designing the eligibility of a health or welfare plan -- the recent Supreme Court decision does not directly impact an employer's ability to decide whether to extend coverage to a same-sex spouse. As the law stands today, sponsors of self-insured health plans may continue to choose whether or not to offer coverage to same-sex spouses (and a state law that provides otherwise should be preempted by ERISA).... [This article includes] a list of the protections and rules that currently apply under ERISA and the Code to 'spouses,' using the IRS's and DOL's definition that looks to the state of ceremony for determining the legality of the marriage." (Ogletree Deakins)  

Annual Compensation Planning Analysis Flat, Consistent with Last Year’s Results
Sibson Consulting

Portfolio Approach Reduces Open Enrollment ‘Benefits Fatigue’
Navera

Five Years Later, FAIR Health Continues to Help Shape the Healthcare Landscape
FAIR Health

Aon Recognized as Captive Manager of the Year and Employee Benefit Specialist of the Year at the 2014 US Captive Service Awards
Aon Corporation

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