Advanced Pension Administrator
Lafayette Life Insurance Company, a member of Western & Southern Financial Group
in OH

Document Design Specialist / Consultant
OneAmerica
in IN

Legislative Compliance Manager
OneAmerica
in IN

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Multiemployer Pension Reform Act: What it Means for Employers
January 14, 2015 WEBCAST
(Seyfarth Shaw LLP)

M&A Basics: Executive Compensation Issues
January 21, 2015 WEBCAST
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

M&A Basics: Pension, Savings, and Welfare Plan Issues
February 4, 2015 WEBCAST
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

M&A Basics: Equity Compensation Plans
February 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP)

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[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Announcement 2015-01: Changes to Employee Plans Determination Letter Processing (PDF)
"The changes to the determination letter procedures described in this announcement will be reflected in Rev. Proc. 2015-6, which will be ... effective on February 1, 2015.... For an Application to be complete, it must include all of the information and documents required by Rev. Proc. 2015-6, including, but not limited to, a completed copy of the Procedural Requirements Checklist set forth in Forms 5300, 5307, 5310 and 5316.... If an Application is incomplete, the Service will contact the applicant in writing and request the missing information. The applicant will have 30 days from the date of the letter to provide the information to the Service. If the applicant fails to provide the information within the 30-day period, the case will be closed. The Service will retain the incomplete Application, and the user fee submitted with the Application will not be refunded.... The Service intends to develop a reference list (Reference List) that applicants may use to indicate the specific provisions in the plan document that reflect the items in the Cycle E Cumulative List.... The inclusion of a completed Reference List with the Application will facilitate the Service's review of the Application, and is encouraged. Submission of a Reference List is not mandatory in Cycle E; however, the Service is considering making the inclusion of the Reference List mandatory beginning the following year, in Cycle A." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Attend, Learn, & Enjoy the Sun this January -- LA Advanced Pension

This must-attend event combines the best of ACOPA's Advanced Actuarial Conference and the LA Regional Conference, and will include hands-on learning about current regulatory, legislative, actuarial, and consulting topics from session leaders. CE's available.

[Guidance Overview]

New Pension Legislation Adopted as Part of Federal Government Spending Legislation
"On December 16, President Obama signed into law new pension legislation affecting both multiemployer and single employer pension plans.... The legislation limits the PBGC's enforcement in the case of a plan sponsor's downsizing under Section 4062(e) of ERISA. Section 4062(e) required plan sponsors who shut down a major facility with accompanying layoffs to provide security to the PBGC in the event of a subsequent distress termination of the plan. The PBGC has often aggressively interpreted when these situations have occurred. The new legislation clarifies and limits the situations covered by Section 4062(e)." (Findley Davies)  

[Guidance Overview]

New Illinois Law Will Require Employers to Enroll Private Sector Employees in State-Run Payroll Deduction IRAs
"The Act requires private sector employers that do not already maintain a retirement plan to enroll their employees in automatic 'payroll deposit retirement savings arrangements' and to remit after-tax payroll deductions to a separate trust fund (State Fund or Fund) established by a state-run board.... [T]he Program will not be implemented if 'the IRA arrangements offered under the Program fail to qualify for the favorable federal income tax treatment ordinarily accorded to IRAs under the [Internal Revenue Code] or if it is determined that the Program is an employee benefit plan and state or employer liability is established under [ERISA].' ... An IRA for this purpose is defined under the Act as 'a Roth IRA under Section 408A' of the Code." (Steptoe & Johnson LLP)  

Text of Federal District Court Opinion Denying Motion to Dismiss in Eastman Kodak Stock Drop Case
"While the stated purposes of the ESOP include enabling Kodak employees 'to acquire stock ownership' in Kodak, and 'to provide a method of corporate finance to the Company,' those could not be the fiduciaries' primary concerns, either by law or by the terms of the governing document... The complaint recites a history not just of Kodak's inexorable slide toward bankruptcy, but of publicly available information contemporaneously documenting that slide, step by painful step, and accurately forecasting Kodak's bleak future.... Accepting the truth of plaintiffs' allegations, a reasonable factfinder could conclude that at some point during the class period, the ESOP fiduciary should have stepped in and, rather than blindly following the plan directive to invest primarily in Kodak stock, shifted the plan's assets into more stable investments, as permitted by the plan document, and as consistent with the plan's and ERISA's purposes." [Gedek et al. v. Perez, No. 12-CV-6051L (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2014)] (U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York)  

Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for Sponsors of Retirement Plans
"[1] Create administrative procedures and internal controls -- and follow them.... [2] Make sure changes to your operating procedures are well documented.... [3] Audit your data.... [4] Transmit contributions in a timely manner.... [5] Establish a Retirement Committee.... [6] Understand plan fees.... [7] Audit your service providers.... [8] Conduct an annual plan review.... [9] Establish success measures.... [10] Establish a strategy for the upcoming year." (Milliman)  

Pension Lump Sums Much More Expensive in 2015
"If you're still considering a lump sum payout window, you'll want to carefully weigh the additional costs of the 2015 lump sum rates compared to 2014. Even with lower interest rates pushing up lump sum costs, there are still incentives to 'right-size' a plan now.... [P]lan sponsors should consider annuity purchases and additional plan funding as ways to reduce long-term plan costs/risks." (Van Iwaarden Associates)  

The Biggest Year-end Move for Your 401(k) Plan
"Ask your employer to offer index funds that have expense ratios that charge less than 0.50% annually. They won't have to look far since they've been on the market for years." (Forbes)  

Retirement Readiness: More Than Income Replacement
"While income replacement is a significant factor in helping participants prepare for a comfortable retirement, there are additional factors that participants must consider in order to ensure a meaningful retirement experience. This paper creates an awareness of significant obstacles that employees face as they enter retirement. Specifically, this paper will highlight debt risk in retirement, cognitive risk in retirement, and healthcare issues in retirement." (Multnomah Group)  

[Opinion]

The Real Risk of Pension Plans: They Give Retirees False Security
"Pension plans have ... [promised] generous benefits without a clear plan to pay for them. When pressed, they may simply raise their performance expectations or choose more risky investments in search of higher returns. Neither is a legitimate solution. In theory, regulators should keep pension plan sponsors in check. In practice, the rules regulators must enforce tend to indulge, or even encourage, risky behavior." (Bloomberg Businessweek)  

[Opinion]

Do Future Retirees Have a Future?
"As people live longer, healthier lives, it is clear that institutions will have to adapt. Many are doing so: we now have specialized communities and residences, medical care, travel -- even special online matchmaking services for senior. Pensions and retirement savings plans, however, have not kept pace." (Former PBGC Director Joshua Gotbaum, via The Brookings Institution)  

[Opinion]

American Academy of Actuaries Comment Letter to IRS on Proposed Hybrid Retirement Plan Regs (PDF)
"[A]dditional clarification [of the following areas] could result in easier or more consistent plan administration and, in some cases, afford sponsors the opportunity to design plans that would be desirable both to the employees who benefit from them and the companies that sponsor them.... Lack of availability of indices for use in interest crediting.... Specification of some combination of investment-based rate of return with annual floor satisfying the market rate of return rules.... Requests to introduce 'self-directed investment' into statutory hybrid plans.... Clarity on plan termination rules for plans with interest crediting rates in excess of market rate of return.... Usefulness / complication of the subset of assets method.... Approval process for 'comparable' RICs.... Lack of clarity on fixed conversion factors." (American Academy of Actuaries)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Releases Form 5500 and Form M-1 for 2014 Plan Year
"All welfare plan filers must answer Question 11a, which asks whether the plan was subject to the Form M-1 filing requirement during the plan year. (For 2013, in contrast, plans were required to attach a statement regarding Form M-1 compliance.)... Form 5500 filers must now provide the total number of active participants at the beginning of the plan year.... No specific definition is provided for welfare plans, although presumably it means a current employee covered by the plan in question.... Multiple employer plans (both welfare and pension, and whether filing Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF) must include an attachment identifying participating employers and providing an estimate of each participating employer's contributions during the year." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

2015 Filing and Notice Deadlines for Qualified Retirement and Health & Welfare Plans
"[This table] provides key filing and notice deadlines common to calendar year plans for 2015." (King & Spalding)  

Ninth Circuit Reverses Course in Equitable Surcharge Case
"The new opinion echoed the earlier one with respect to appellant's claims for reformation and equitable estoppel, but it declined to reach the merits of his equitable surcharge theory. Instead, it simply remanded the issue to the district court.... In her majority opinion, Judge Ikuta wrote, without any reference to her earlier opinion rejecting the equitable surcharge theory, that the Supreme Court's decision in Amara dictated a remand to the district court." [Gabriel v. Alaska Electrical Pension Fund, No. 12-35458 (9th Cir. Dec. 16, 2014)] (Littler)  

ERISA at 40 (PDF)
"This article outlines key changes to ERISA in the last 40 years. It also examines what [survey participants] think about the law, the challenges they have faced in the last 40 years with the changing employee benefits landscape, and what they think lies ahead." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)  

Newport Retirement Services Earns National Award for Retirement Communication and Education Materials
Newport Group, The

Newport Investment Consulting Earns National Award for Retirement Communication and Education Materials
Newport Group, The

Retirement Wellness Planner from The Principal Helps Participants Visualize Goals
Principal Financial Group

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