Senior Defined Contribution Consultant
Consulting Actuaries Incorporated
in NJ

ERISA Consultant
Pension Consultants, Inc.
in MO

Attorney - ERISA/Employee Benefits
International Union, United Auto Workers
in MI

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What ERISA Plan Fiduciaries Can Learn From Tibble v. Edison International
April 9, 2015 WEBCAST
(Mayer Brown)

2015 Annual Denver Benefits Summit
April 21, 2015 in CO
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - Denver Chapter)

IRAs
April 21, 2015 WEBCAST
(American Bar Association [ABA])

ERISA Fiduciary Overview for Plan Sponsors
April 29, 2015 WEBCAST
(Multnomah Group)

ACA Best Practices – What Could Go Wrong? Potholes to Avoid and New Challenges Down the Road
April 30, 2015 WEBCAST
(HR.com)

ESOPs: a Briefing for Professional Advisors
May 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(Beyster Institute)

EBRI Policy Forum: Evidence on Defined Contribution Health and Retirement: The Road Ahead
May 14, 2015 in DC
(EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute])

Health Care Reform
October 8, 2015 in WA
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

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[Guidance Overview]

IRS to Plan Sponsors: You Must Retain Documentation for Loans and Hardship Withdrawals
"Two things about the guidance [in Employee Plans News, No. 2015-4 (Apr. 1, 2015)] are notable ... The first is the IRS's emphasis on impermissible self-certification (for both loans and hardship withdrawals). Taken together with the guidance's pointed reference to audits, the clear message is that the IRS is on the lookout for precisely this issue as it expands its audit program. The second notable point is the IRS's statement that each loan or hardship withdrawal for which a plan sponsor does not having the documents listed above in its files constitutes a qualification failure that should be corrected under EPCRS." (Spencer Fane)  

[Advert.]

The Ultimate Retirement Professional Conference Experience

Limited travel budget? Let ASPPA bring the conference to you. Register for one of four ASPPA Regional conferences - Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, or Philadelphia! We'll get you up to speed without the travel.

[Guidance Overview]

Restatement of Rev. Proc. 2013-12 (EPCRS Program)
The target page summarizes two safe-harbor correction methods that were added to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, and includes a link to a handy restatement of the currently effective revenue procedure for EPCRS (Rev. Proc. 2013-12), incorporating the modifications recently made by Rev. Proc. 2015-27 and Rev. Proc. 2015-28. (ERISApedia.com)  

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Provides Some Good News for Automatic Enrollment Plans
"Under the new safe harbor, plan sponsors would only have to make up the matching contributions that would have been made with respect to the deferrals that were not withheld. Notice of the failure to enroll the participant has to be given to the affected eligible employee not later than 45 days after the date on which correct deferrals begin." (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

Why Isn't 401(k) Fee Disclosure Working?
"Beyond apathy ... is the lack of user-friendliness when it comes to the disclosure documents.... Even if the plan participant is brave enough to dive into those many pages, they may not be properly equipped to discern the true meaning of all those numbers.... The 401k industry takes great care to push automatic features.... While there may be definite benefits to using inertia to benefit the savings behavior of the participant, it could also inadvertently be disengaging the individual.... If there's a problem of financial literacy on the employee end of the equation, then there may be a problem of fiduciary literacy on the employer's end.... Who needs fee disclosure when you have Jerry Schlichter?" (Fiduciary News)  

2015 Plan Administration Calendar (PDF)
15 pages. Month-by-month charts with deadlines arising in the administration of DB and DC plans. (MassMutual)  

[Advert.]

Last Chance! Conference is almost sold out!

NCEO's 2015 Employee Ownership Conference will take place at the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel. This year's conference will sell out at 1400 attendees and NCEO is within 30 attendees of closing online registration, so if you would like to attend, register today.

A Compendium of Findings About American Employers: 15th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey (PDF)
128 pages. "Seventy-nine percent of employers offer an employee-funded plan, such as a 401(k) or similar plan, to their employees... Among employers that offer a 401(k) or similar plan, 77 percent offer a matching contribution.... Twenty-nine percent of employers that sponsor a 401(k) or similar plan have adopted automatic enrollment.... Among plan sponsors that have adopted automatic enrollment, the median default contribution rate is 3 percent of an employee's annual pay.... In 2014, 19 percent of plan sponsors have set the default contribution rate between five and eight percent of annual pay.... Fifty-six percent that offer target date funds ... Seventy-two percent of employers are confident that their employees will achieve a comfortable lifestyle in retirement[.]" (Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies)  

Global Trends in DB and DC Plans (PDF)
"[W]hile the majority of global retirement plans are managed using a combination of local and corporate governance, there has been an increasing trend towards a more centralized approach.... Legacy plans continue to weigh heavily on resources, even as companies strive to transition to DC plans in order to transfer risk from the organization.... The biggest change in DB plan management over the last decade has been the shift to liability-driven investing.... [T]here is growing recognition that there must be more of a shared responsibility around retirement outcomes, beginning with the level of DC plan contributions." (Vanguard)  

Investors Reap the Gains of Target Date Funds
"By the end of 2014, more than 10 target-date series had amassed a decade or more of investor-return history, making for an opportune moment to take a closer look at how investors have fared with the funds. The news is good: Target-date funds' annualized asset-weighted investor return during the last 10 years through December 2014 stood at 6.1%, 1.1 percentage points greater than the category's 5.0% gain. In contrast ... most broad investment categories, such as U.S. equity, international equity, and taxable bond, had negative investor-return gaps." (Morningstar)  

Managing a Plan Vendor Change
"[O]nce the decision is made to move the plan to a new recordkeeper, the plan sponsor must understand the process for implementing and managing the transfer and the timing requirements for the various notices that are used to communicate the change to the plan participants.... Don't misunderstand when plan recordkeepers tell you that the plan transfer will be 'seamless.' This is often misinterpreted by the plan sponsor as 'you don't need to do anything, it will all just magically happen.' That is never the case." (Retirement Management Services)  

Settlement Reached in Stock-Drop Case
"A class of former LandAmerica Financial Group employees agreed to a $5 million settlement of stock-drop claims arising from LandAmerica's 2008 bankruptcy, and have submitted the agreement for court approval.... The complaint alleged that certain LandAmerica directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties by, among other things, (i) imprudently investing in LandAmerica stock even though they knew that its title insurance subsidiary was backed by inherently risky subprime mortgage loans, and (ii) concealing the truth about LandAmerica's deteriorating condition." (Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center)  

What Is the Average Retirement Age?
"The average retirement age has increased only slightly in the last 10 years to 64 for men and 62 for women. The average age for men has been declining since the advent of Social Security benefits, pensions, and Medicare.... People with more education tend to work longer. Older workers tend to be among the more educated, healthiest, and wealthiest." (American Century Investments)  

Reforming Government Pensions to Better Distribute Benefits: What Are the Options? (PDF)
23 pages. "This report identifies promising reform options that could more fairly distribute retirement benefits across the public-sector workforce and help governments recruit and retain productive employees. Options include revising the plan benefit formula, offering alternative plan designs, and extending Social Security coverage to all state and local government employees." [5-page summary is also available.] (Urban Institute)  

S&P 1500 Pension Funded Status Stays Put in March
"The estimated aggregate funding level of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies remained at 80% as of March 31, 2015. Equity market declines were offset by slight increases in interest rates used to calculate corporate pension plan liabilities. As of March 31, 2015, the estimated aggregate deficit of $480 billion improved by $6 billion as compared to the end of February 2015. Funded status is up by $24 billion from the $504 billion deficit measured at the end of 2014[.]" (Mercer)  

[Opinion]

NASRA Letter to Moody's About Presentation of Public Pension Accounting Information (PDF)
"This letter is to express concern, once again, about Moody's presentation of adjusted public pension accounting information and drawing funding conclusions from the modified data. Specifically, in your recent report, 'New Pension Accounting Increases Clarity of Plan Funding Trajectories,' Moody's uses unconventional metrics to conclude that most state and local governments' pension contributions were insufficient to stem unfunded liability growth, even for those that are making their full actuarially determined contribution." (National Association of State Retirement Administrators [NASRA])  

IRS Releases Amended Section 162(m) Regs Clarifying How to Preserve the Deductibility of Certain Compensation for Public Companies
"Companies either anticipating becoming publicly traded or that have recently become publicly traded should consider either of the following alternatives for senior officers: [1] structuring new grants of RSUs to senior officers to be settled and paid out prior to the expiration of the transition period; or [2] granting awards of restricted stock instead of RSUs, which will be exempt if granted before the expiration of the transition period even if vesting occurs following the expiration of the transition period." (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)  

Reminder on Electronic Equity Award Agreements
"Courts have confirmed that the electronic delivery and acceptance of equity awards does not diminish the enforceability of the terms of the award agreement, including restrictive covenants. However, the structure and wording of electronic delivery and acceptance websites is important.... Companies need to make certain that all terms and conditions are incorporated and available for recipient review." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

2015 Retirement Designation Guide Released
Financial Service Standards, LLC.

PLANSPONSOR Announces 2015 Best in Class 401(k) Plans
PLANSPONSOR

Pharmacist Survey Raises Concerns for Patient Access to Generic Drugs
National Community Pharmacists Association [NCPA]

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