ACOPA

Retirement Plan Conversion Consultant
Charles Schwab
in OH, TX

Client Relationship Manager
PCS
in PA

Lead Implementation Analyst
Empower Retirement
in MA

Client Relationship Manager
The Newport Group
in CA, FL, TX, VA

Compliance Manager
Verisight
in AZ, IL

Senior Implementation Consultant
VALIC
in TX

Retirement Plan Administrator
Third Party Administrator
in WI

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Information Reporting Requirements for Providers of Minimal Essential Coverage
July 30, 2015 WEBCAST
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

IRS’ Liberalization of the IRS Correction Program for Qualified Plans
August 13, 2015 WEBCAST
(Bloomberg BNA)

Back to the Future: What the Tea Leaves Say About the Future of TPA Technology
August 18, 2015 in KY
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Greater Cincinnati)

What the Healthcare Law Means for your Small Business
August 20, 2015 WEBCAST
(Small Business Majority)

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Pressures on DB Plans Spur Plan Sponsors to Action
"[N]early two thirds (59%) of sponsors surveyed have already offered some type of one-time lump sum payment to vested DB plan participants. This trend seems set to continue, as 49% of survey participants stated their companies are likely to employ some form of lump sum payout in the next two years. Annuity buyouts may also be on the rise -- approximately a third (36%) of this year's respondents state they are likely or very likely to purchase an annuity in either 2015 or 2016." (Mercer)  

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International Monetary Fund Warns of Pension Risks
"Pension risk transfer to insurance companies could increase systemic risk in the U.S. financial system, the International Monetary Fund warned in a new report.... The authors [said] ... that 'the transfer of pension risk to the insurance industry, through 'longevity swaps' and other insurance products, increases the interconnectedness of the system.' For pension fund executives, 'pressure to improve returns could spur undue risk-taking, whether via direct credit exposure or through securities lending and cash reinvestment,' said the report[.]" (Pensions & Investments)  

Employee Benefit Plans and Audit Quality (PDF)
"Many auditors who conduct employee benefit plan (EBP) audits may be unaware of the responsibilities and the risks that come along with these audits.... [This discussion] focuses on three common deficiencies found in limited-scope EBP audits, namely adequately testing for [1] remitting employee contributions on a timely basis; [2] demographic data; and [3] hardship distributions." (The CPA Journal)  

The Many Faces of Fiduciary Outsourcing: ERISA Sections 3(16), 3(21) and 3(38) (PDF)
"In this article [the authors] review the meaning under ERISA of the terms 'fiduciary' (ERISA 3(21)), 'administrator' (ERISA 3(16)) and 'investment manager' (ERISA 3(38)). [They] then consider, in each case, how those terms are used when discussing outsourcing. Finally, [the authors] briefly discuss the significance of these distinctions for purposes of the outsourcing relationship and contracting." (Russell Investments)  

DOL Fiduciary Rule Could Slam Variable Annuities
" 'As drafted, we see the regulation having a negative impact for specific companies, but only modestly negative for most,' [Credit Suisse] said. Although considered a security, [variable annuities] have remained exempt for fiduciary standards via the 84-24 rule. The new DOL rules would revoke that exemption. Fixed-income annuities will retain the 84-24 exemption, but fixed index annuity (FIAs) sales will need to meet stepped-up 'impartial conduct standards.' " (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

LPL Cracking Down on Brokers Who Collect Retirement Account Fees from Family Members
"Looking to stay head of regulators who are more closely eyeing retirement accounts, LPL Financial told its brokers last month that next year they will no longer be able to receive a fee or commission from those accounts belonging to direct family members. Brokers will have until Jan. 1 to hand off the accounts to another colleague or they will have to set the fee to zero and rebate any commissions[.]" (Investment News)  

Employee Ownership and Unemployment (PDF)
10 pages. "[In] 2014 9.3% of all working adults in the private sector not in employee ownership plans report having been laid off in the last year, compared to just 1.3% of those respondents who says they own stock in their company through some kind of company-sponsored employee ownership plan.... [T]he same magnitude of difference occurs in each of the prior [General Social Survey] quadrennial surveys going back to 2002, the first time questions about employee ownership were asked." (National Center for Employee Ownership [NCEO])  

Retirement Crisis: Real or Hype?
"Charles Ellis, founder of Greenwich Associates ... [said,] 'We've shifted the responsibility for virtually every decision from the corporation to individuals,' ... adding his observation that individual investors do not do a good job of investing, nor of saving ... AEI Resident Scholar Andrew Biggs argued that how one assesses retirement readiness depends in part on how retirement savings are measured.... '[T]he real problem is on the government side.' In his view, it's 'putting too many eggs in a very risky basket' to depend on Social Security and state and local governmental retirement systems. (American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries [ASPPA])  

2015 Survey of Governmental Defined Contribution Plans, Part 2 (PDF)
July 2015. "The second 2015 NAGDCA Defined Contribution Plan survey covered 84 government defined contribution plans.... As of March 31, 2015, 67 responding governmental 457 plans had assets valued at over $88 billion. Twenty-five state 457 plans held approximately $50 billion of this total... Of the responding state 457 plans, those with the largest asset bases are Ohio ($11.4 billion), California ($5.4 billion) and Wisconsin ($4 billion). The largest local plans responding to the survey are City of New York ($13.6 billion) and County of Los Angeles, CA ($8.3 billion)." (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators [NAGDCA])  

Supplemental Plan Offerings and Retirement Saving Choices: An Analysis of North Carolina School Districts
"Unlike private sector employers, public school districts generally offer more than one type of supplemental retirement savings plan and allow multiple vendors to offer products.... [T]his study examines the impact of inter-district differences in supplemental plan administration on participation in these savings vehicles. [The authors] find wide variation in total participation rates and in 403(b) plan participation rates in particular, even among this population of public-sector workers with the same defined benefit pension plan, health plan, and retiree health coverage." (National Bureau of Economic Research [NBER])  

State-Run Retirement Savings Program Gets Boost in California
"[New] rules are expected to answer a key question: Is [California] Secure Choice exempt from a federal retirement law, ERISA, that not only has employer administrative costs but may also expose employers to liability for failed investments and other problems? An ERISA exemption is one of several limits California legislation placed on Secure Choice: No state budget for development ($1 million was donated), self-sustaining when operating, IRS tax approval, and legislative approval of the final savings plan." (Calpensions)  

CalPERS Misses Its Target Return by a Wide Margin
"The nation's largest public pension fund said its investments returned just 2.4% for its fiscal year, ended June 30, far below its 7.5% investment target.... The stock portfolio's return was only 1%, underperforming the 1.3% returns at its benchmark portfolio.... A surprising disappointment was its private equity portfolio, which accounts for about 9% of the fund. That portfolio's return was 8.9%, which was a significant miss at 2.21 percentage points below CalPERS' benchmark." (Los Angeles Times)  

[Opinion]

American Academy of Actuaries Comment Letter to IRS on Timing for Release of 2016 Applicable Mortality Tables (PDF)
"[If] the IRS and Treasury decide that it is appropriate and necessary to update to a different underlying assumption basis that reflects a new structure (e.g., a change from static rates to generational projection), it is imperative that the new tables be announced immediately. Even then, many plans will face a significant challenge to implement the new tables in a timely manner and may experience compliance failures if they are unable to do so." (Pension Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Limits Independent Contractor Classification
"The ... main goal [of Administrator's Interpretation 2015-01] is to provide DOL's view on how courts should interpret the 'economic realities' test utilized to determine whether a worker is an employee for purposes of the FLSA. The test seeks to determine the degree of economic dependence of the worker on the putative employer. If the worker is economically dependent on the putative employer, the worker under the test should be found to be an employee. The test includes six factors aimed at helping courts make this determination." (Proskauer's Law and the Workplace)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Draws Line on Worker Classification
"If individuals are reclassified as employees, then an employer may suddenly find it subject to requirements which it previously thought it was exempt from (e.g., moving from under 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalent employees to being subject to the employer shared responsibility penalty, or moving out of other small employer exemptions such as under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, or moving the employer out of a safe harbor for offering coverage to 70% of full-time employees in 2015 or 95% in 2016 and triggering the employer shared responsibility tax for failing to offer coverage).... Failing to enroll the individuals prior to reclassification in a 401(k) plan could result in having a group of new employees that should have been enrolled in a 401(k) Plan that was a safe harbor plan, not enrolled, and not receiving safe harbor contributions and the plan losing its safe harbor status and being required to test for nondiscrimination in contributions." (Winstead PC)  

Evidence Supporting a Claim Can Be Insufficient, Even If Undisputed
"The court began by noting that, while plan administrators cannot arbitrarily refuse to credit a claimant's reliable evidence, they may exercise discretion in deciding what evidence is sufficient. Where the administrator has substantial evidence to support its determination, the fact that there is conflicting evidence does not equate to an abuse of discretion.... It might be arbitrary and capricious to reject a claimant's evidence without making a reasonable effort to develop the record further. But this is governed by a rule of reason, and administrators are not required to 'scour the countryside' to find evidence to support a claim." [Roganti v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., No. 13-4532-cv (2d Cir. May 14, 2015)] (Begos Brown & Green LLP)  

Securian Strengthens Institutional Retirement Group with Additional Large Plan Experts
Securian Financial Group

US Labor Department Files Complaint Seeking Restoration of Contributions to Pension Plan Sponsored by Brunk Industries, Inc. in Fresno, California
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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