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[Official Guidance]
Text of SEC Guidance on Definition of the Terms 'Spouse' and 'Marriage' After Windsor
"[T]he Commission will read the terms 'spouse' and 'marriage,' where they appear in the federal securities statutes administered by the Commission, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, releases, orders, and any guidance issued by the staff or the Commission, to include, respectively, [1] an individual married to a person of the same sex if the couple is lawfully married under state law, regardless of the individual's domicile, and [2] such a marriage between individuals of the same sex. This guidance is consistent with Windsor[.]"
(Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC])
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[Advert.]
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[Guidance Overview]
Multiemployer Plan Benefit Suspension Guidance Is Here (PDF)
"Plans with 10,000 or more participants must select a retiree representative -- a plan participant in pay status ... [who] advocates for the interests of the retired and deferred vested participants and beneficiaries of the plan throughout the suspension approval process.... Notice of proposed suspension must be provided, via written or electronic delivery, to all participants, beneficiaries, alternate payees, each employer with an obligation to contribute, and each employee organization representing plan participants for collective bargaining purposes[.]"
(Buck Consultants at Xerox)
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[Guidance Overview]
PBGC Prescribes Program for Mulltiemployer Plan Partitions to Promote Preservation (PDF)
"PBGC sets out the application process and notice requirement for partitioning multiemployer plans. PBGC intends to provide guidance on facilitated mergers in a separate rulemaking. PBGC expects that fewer than 20 plans will be approved for partition over the next three years and that the total financial assistance they will provide will be less than $60 million per year."
(Buck Consultants at Xerox)
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[Guidance Overview]
Guidance on MPRA's Rules for Benefit Suspension and Plan Partition
"The time between the submission of a 'suspension-only' application and its approval generally will be at least nine months. Preparation of the application is not included in that period and should begin as soon as possible for plans that need approval as early as possible.... [P]lans in the early stages of considering a future suspension and/or partition should spend time now looking at their participant data to determine if it is sufficient to support the numerous calculations and determinations that will be required."
(Segal Consulting)
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A Close Look at the Universe of ERISA-Regulated 403(b) Based on Their Form 5500 Audit Reports (PDF)
54 pages. "In 2012, the average ERISA 403(b) plan offered 23 core investment options -- of those, about 10 were equity funds, three were bond funds, and seven were target date funds. Nearly all plans offered at least one equity and bond fund, about 70 percent of plans offered a suite of target date funds, and 84 percent offered fixed annuities.... [If] all investments in ERISA 403(b) plans are counted (no matter how small), ERISA 403(b) plans have an average of 41 investment options.... Mutual funds held 47 percent of ERISA 403(b) plan assets in 2012. Variable annuities held 27 percent of assets, and fixed annuities were 26 percent."
(Investment Company Institute [ICI])
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[Advert.]
SPARK Forum - November 8-10, 2015 -- The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL
Join us at the retirement services industry's leading event for top marketing, sales, administration and record keeping professionals. Comprehensive agenda to meet the needs of 401(k) Plan Providers, Financial Advisors and Third Party Administrators.
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Should the 15-Year 403(b) Catch-Up Election Be Eliminated?
"[T]he election is among the most difficult to calculate in the defined contribution arena, requiring contribution data for the entire working career of an individual employee.... 15-year catch-up calculations are one of the primary issues identified in IRS audits, and lack of compliance appears to be widespread; and ... legitimate utilization of the election is often low ... [M]ore and more plan sponsors who previously permitted the 15-year catch-up election have simply decided to eliminate it ... [It] is indeed an elective, and not a mandatory, plan provision, so it may be eliminated via plan amendment[.]"
(PLANSPONSOR)
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Restating Your Preapproved Plan Document: Opportunities and Pitfalls
"[T]he restatement of a preapproved plan document presents opportunities both to identify existing administrative problems and avoid future problems.... Preserve the Plan Design.... Do Not Ignore Administrative Terms ... Cross Check Payroll and Other Operations.... 'Preapproved' does not mean 'guaranteed to work.' So invest the time now to make sure the documents say what they should."
(Verrill Dana LLP)
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Supreme Court Declines to Hear 'Would Have' vs. 'Could Have' ERISA Case
"The 4th Circuit concluded that the defendants failed to have a prudent process because they failed to consider the best interests of the participants. The question then becomes, once you've shown a failure of procedural prudence, what can the fiduciary prove to show they still made the right substantive choice? The defendants wanted a standard that would have allowed them to put on evidence that a prudent fiduciary COULD have made the same decision. The plaintiffs, and ultimately the 4th Circuit, supported a standard where the defendant must show that a prudent fiduciary WOULD have made the same decision." [Tatum v. RJR Pension Investment Comm., No. 13-1360 (4th Cir. Aug. 4, 2014; cert. denied June 29, 2015)]
(Fiduciary Matters Blog)
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U.S. Supreme Court Says 'Regular Review' of ERISA Investments Required
"Although the [Tibble v. Edison Int'l] Court did not elaborate on what it viewed to be the scope of an ERISA plan fiduciary's duty to monitor, the plaintiffs' bar is already seizing on the ruling as a potential basis for asserting new claims based on a failure to monitor prudently plan investments and other plan functions. Thus, plan fiduciaries are advised to establish a thoughtful and appropriate procedure for monitoring plan investment options, to diligently follow that procedure when monitoring plan investment options, and to make and preserve a written record reflecting that they followed their procedure in every regard."
(Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center)
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The Hows, Whys, and Right and Wrong Way to Use Asset Allocation
"Perhaps asset allocation isn't what we think it is. Perhaps asset allocation is, and always has been, something more subtle, more instinctual, then we have imagined in these past few decades. Maybe there's a reason to keep asset allocation around that has nothing to do with the way it's thought of today, but harks back to an earlier era."
(Fiduciary News)
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Streamlining 401(k) Plans to Improve Diversification
"In 2013 DC plan participants allocated 82 percent of their entire equity allocation to U.S. stocks ... That's a full 33 percentage points over the market weight of U.S. equities based on global stock market capitalizations.... By offering a more balanced menu of U.S. and international equity options, along with target-date funds, plan sponsors can help participants invest across the global equity opportunity set, which would position their portfolios for greater potential long-term gains."
(Institutional Investor)
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Optimal Equity Glidepaths in Retirement
"The optimal static retirement glidepath would be the one that performs better than all others with respect to some metric. When systematic withdrawals are made from a retirement portfolio, glidepaths are often assessed via the probability of ruin (or success). Our goal here is to derive the optimal static glidepath with respect to this metric. It is a result new to the literature and the shape will be of special interest to retirees, financial advisors, retirement researchers, and target-date fund providers."
(Christopher J. Rook, via SSRN)
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An Allocation to Return-Seeking Assets Could Be Necessary Even After Fully Funding Achieved
"One of the main concerns plan sponsors have when considering their end game is surplus volatility. The more volatile a plan's surplus, the more likely cash contributions will have to be made to the plan. This is a risk most corporations don't want to take. When a plan maintains an allocation to return-seeking investments, the probability of the sponsor having to make contributions decreases."
(Russell Investments)
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Voya Restricts Variable Annuity Sales Under Regulatory Pressure
"As of Monday, Voya's 2,200 registered representatives are no longer allowed to sell a type of variable-annuity contract known as an 'L share' if the annuity contract includes riders ... L-shares typically charge higher ongoing fees in exchange for a shorter-than-normal period of time before clients can withdraw their premium payments or exchange their contracts without paying a surrender charge. They also can come with a rich compensation stream for broker-dealers and their affiliated financial advisers."
(Investment News)
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Public Workers' Reliance on DC Plans Grows (PDF)
"[S]tates and localities are beginning to place more emphasis on supplemental DC plans or hybrid plans as a complement or replacement to DB, while a few states have made the full switch to primary DC plans.... [M]ore public plan sponsors are considering automatic enrollment and other design improvements. While state and local DC plans are commonly referred to as 'supplemental savings' programs, their role is increasing as they are called to cover a growing share of retirement financing and medical costs."
(PIMCO)
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New Jersey Dems Push Measure to Pay Pension Contribution Early and Bank Investment Earnings
"Under the Democrats' plan, the state would make its annual payment in July, borrowing the money on the state's line of credit until tax revenue starts filling state coffers. That borrowing -- from a short-term note -- would cost the state less than $7 million in interest but generate an extra $87 million in investment income, Democrats said. The state invests its $80 billion in pension funds in traditional and alternative investments, assuming a 7.9 percent rate of return. Both houses passed the measure Monday, shortly after it was introduced."
(NJ.com)
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Rhode Island Pension Shortfall Now Pegged at $4.9 Billion
"The shortfall in Rhode Island's state pension system will total $4.9 billion once Gov. Gina Raimondo signs into law a legal settlement with unions and retirees that got included in the state budget ... A June 10 letter from ... the state's outside actuary ... confirmed that the pension settlement's provisions will increase the size of the unfunded pension liability by $290 million, from $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion, using beneficiary data as of June 30, 2014."
(WPRI.com)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Interim Web Notice on Cross-Reference Changes to Parts 2560, 2570 and 2571 of DOL Regs
"ERISA authorizes the Secretary of Labor to assess civil monetary penalties for certain statutory violations and to make certain other determinations. EBSA regulations specify the Department's procedures for such actions.... EBSA intends to amend its procedural regulations to update the cross-references. In the meantime, the chart below indicates the correct section of the OALJ rules that should be used in applying EBSA's procedural regulations. With the exception of the outdated cross-references, the EBSA rules cited above remain in effect."
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])
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Same-Sex Marriage: A Practical Guide for Employers
"While issues will continue to arise, here are a number of things all employers should consider: Employee handbooks ... Taxes ... Health insurance ... Other benefits ... COBRA ... FMLA ... Pensions, qualified retirement accounts, and IRAs."
(Goldberg Segalla)
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The Same-Sex Marriage Ruling: Key Employee Benefits Take-Aways
"State insurance laws may require insurance carriers to offer same-sex spouses the same coverage and benefits that they offer to opposite-sex spouses.... A self-funded medical plan that is not subject to state insurance laws, but is subject to non-discrimination laws, may be required to cover same-sex spouses if the plan covers opposite-sex spouses.... Same-sex spouses would ... be able to obtain Qualified Domestic Relations Orders assigning portions of retirement plan accounts to current or former spouses or to the children of the same-sex marriage.... Same-sex couples will be able to adopt children as couples ... so benefit plans that provide coverage to adopted children of an employee will cover the children of the family.... Children of a same-sex spouse probably will be step-children of the employee and entitled to benefits offered to step-children."
(Ogletree Deakins)
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