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Overview of the DOL's Proposed Fiduciary Rule
April 29, 2015 WEBCAST
(Wagner Law Group P.C.)

Fiduciary Investment Advice
May 14, 2015 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Fundamental Series 13: Roth Contributions & Taxation [2015]
May 18, 2015 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Spring 15 Retirement, Annuity, and Life Insurance Benefit Planning
May 20, 2015 in NY
(New York State Bar Association)

(K)onvergence Summit: Formulating U.S. National Retirement Policy Investment Array of the Future
June 9, 2015 in MA
(EACH Enterprise)

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[Guidance Overview]

Once More Unto the Breach: The New 'Fiduciary' Definition
"The Proposed Regulations would not require that advice be individualized to the needs of the plan, participant, or IRA owner. If the advice merely is 'specifically directed to' the participant or IRA owner, that would be sufficient to cause it to be fiduciary advice.... [T]he Preamble to the Proposed Regulations states that ... lawyers, accountants, and actuaries would not be treated as fiduciaries merely because they provide such professional assistance in connection with a particular investment transaction. Despite the Preamble statement, however, the actual language of the proposal is not clear on this point, and there is no express carve-out for such professional services.... In a departure from existing law that has been in effect since 1996, the carve-out for 'investment education' would not permit the use of asset allocation models that refer to specific investment products available under the plan or IRA." (Jones Day)  

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[Guidance Overview]

DOL's Proposed Fiduciary Rules May Unexpectedly Open Lifetime Income Door, If....
"This effort represents a fundamental change in a very broad regulatory scheme which will ultimately have some effect on most every part of the ERISA marketplace ... Though the rule changes themselves are not particularly complicated, they will affect ERISA plan relationships in so many different ways that it really will be hard to judge its ultimate impact -- other than it will be substantial.... [T]here are a couple of technical points which ... represent what we can expect of the 'unexpected' as we work through the changes' impact." (Business of Benefits)  

IRS Clarifies That Plans Do Not Necessarily Have to Recoup Overpayments
"[Rev. Proc. 2015-27] gives two possible alternatives: retroactively amending the plan to conform to the way it was actually operated, or having the employer make up the overpayments.... However, governmental plan trustees will need to consider carefully how to respond to an overpayment situation. In some instances, a plan amendment may require action of a legislature, which may be hard or impossible to obtain in a timely manner. The plan trustee may well have no way to compel an employer to repay overpayments, if it is unwilling to do so." (Calhoun Law Group, P.C.)  

IRS Form 8498: Continuing Education Provider Application and Request for Provider Number (PDF)
Rev. April 2015. "Use Form 8498 to: [1] register as a new provider of continuing educational programs being offered to IRS enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents, and other tax return preparers; [2] annually renew your status as an IRS-approved continuing educational provider; and [3] add new programs to an existing IRS-approved provider continuing education curriculum." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Generating a Stream of Retirement Income in a World Without DB Plans: Guaranteed Retirement-Income Products
"[G]uaranteed retirement-income products for DC plans do not have a long history. They can be complex and require market-based analysis. It is important to evaluate the creditworthiness of the financial institution or the insurance company that is providing the income guarantee and carefully examine the fees, as some of the products are quite expensive. There are also concerns about portability (from both the employee's and employer's perspective). In short, the products must be approached with caution and require ongoing market-based evaluation." (Sibson Consulting)  

Investor Sophistication and Target Date Fund Investing
"Using the 2009 National Financial Capability Study, this paper examines the relation between investor sophistication and the decision to primarily invest retirement assets in target-date funds. The results show that Americans with low investor sophistication are 22.2% more likely to primarily use target-date funds to save for retirement, compared to highly sophisticated investors. It is possible that the Pension Protection Act created a positive economic impact given [this] evidence that investors who stand to benefit the most from target-date fund investment are the ones who are more likely to use the product." (Michael A. Guillemette, Terrance Kieron Martin Jr., and Philip Gibson, via SSRN)  

San Francisco Retirees Get Voter-Approved Pension Cut Overturned
"Reversing a superior court ruling, an appeals court overturned part of a voter-approved San Francisco pension reform in 2011 that ended higher payments to retirees when investments have 'excess earnings.' But the feisty retiree group, Protect Our Benefits, is unhappy because the appeals court ruled higher payments can be ended for city workers who retired on or before Nov. 5, 1996, when the supplemental cost-of-living adjustment was first approved by voters." (Calpensions)  

[Opinion]

Of Advisers and Fiduciary Escape Hatches
"The debate that rages now about whether brokers advising 401(k) plans (and IRA owners) should be held to the same fiduciary standard as Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) rests on the broader failure of plan sponsors to understand the broker's bigger agenda.... [T]he sponsors did not understand that current law allows a nonfiduciary adviser to: [1] Operate with conflicts of interest that it need not disclose and with very limited exposure to liability ... or [2] Give imprudent and disloyal advise based on its own ... financial interests[.]" (ERISA Fiduciary Administrators LLC)  

[Opinion]

A Response to the EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey
"[W]hen we consider the survey data in its totality, we are struck by the same themes as in prior years: [1] Employer-sponsored retirement plans help workers accumulate wealth. [2] Automatic enrollment gets people into plans. [3] Automatic escalation gets contributions to good levels. [4] Financial wellness programs can enhance employees' understanding of key financial concepts, and hopefully lead to better spending and savings behavior." (BMO Retirement Services)  

[Guidance Overview]

FASB Proposals Address Plan Accounting
"The first proposal would designate contract value as the only required measure for fully benefit-responsive investment contracts.... The second proposal would require that participant-directed and nonparticipant-directed investments of employee benefit plans be grouped only by general type, eliminating the need to disaggregate the investments in multiple ways.... [The third proposal would allow] employers to measure defined benefit plan assets on a month-end date nearest to the employer's fiscal year end when the fiscal period does not coincide with a month end." (Journal of Accountancy)  

First Circuit Weighs Standard of Review In Suits for Executive Compensation Benefits
"In addition to weighing in on the standard of review circuit split, the First Circuit also clarified its 2013 ruling in Hannington v. Sun Life and Health Ins. Co.... which held that deferential judicial review applied to a disability insurer's interpretation of plan terms, while de novo judicial review applied to the administrator's interpretation of materials outside of the plan ... In the instant case, the court clarified that Hannington's de novo standard applied only to documents that created or altered legal obligations, and not to background information like e-mail correspondence between parties." [Niebauer v. Crane & Co., No. 14-2059 (1st Cir. Apr. 21, 2015] (Bloomberg BNA)  

Eight Things You Need to Know About Equity Compensation
"[1] It's an 'except when' set of rules.... [2] Accounting (compensation expense) really matters.... 3) [E]very country has its own set of tax, security, currency and other rules.... [4] Plan design cannot be done in a vacuum.... [5] Stock administration systems are far more limited than your imagination.... [6] Taxes are hard. Really hard.... [7] You should join, or at least follow, these organizations.... [8] It's still worth the effort." (Performensation)  

Analysis Shows Link Between Adverse Say-on-Pay and Director Votes
"Support for Say-on-Pay plans slipped to 80 percent from 83 percent in the prior mini-season. A notable exception was micro caps, which saw support for their Say-on-Pay plans climb to 80 percent from 71 percent in the 2013 mini-season. Among the report's highlights is an observation about the link between the results of director elections and Say-on-Pay votes." (Corporate Secretary)  

EdisonHealth Network’s ROI Estimator Validated by the Care Innovations Validation Institute
EdisonHealth Network LLC

Marsh & McLennan Agency Welcomes Kim Clark as Account Director
Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC – Michigan office

ACEBC Law Student Outreach
American College of Employee Benefits Counsel

ACEBC Writing Competition
American College of Employee Benefits Counsel

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