ACOPA

Client Executive EM
Transamerica
in IL, MN

Retirement Plan Administrator
Equity Trust Company
in OH

Retirement Plan Fulfillment Specialist
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Education Specialist
Verisight
in MD, NC

Plan Analyst Consultant
OneAmerica Financial Partners
in IN

Retirement Plan Administrator
Florida Panhandle Company
in FL

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Preserving Multiemployer Pensions — Promises Made Should Be Promises Kept
August 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(Bloomberg BNA)

What GASB Statements 67 & 68 Mean For State and Municipal Pension Systems
August 19, 2015 WEBCAST
(Pension 360)

Information Reporting Requirements for Providers of Minimal Essential Coverage
August 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

Viewing Healthcare through a Finance and Fiduciary Lens
September 9, 2015 WEBCAST
(fi360)

Onsite Clinics: The Hub of Worksite Wellness & Fitness Programs
October 15, 2015 in IL
(National Association of Worksite Health Centers)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Employee Plans News 2015-8, July 27, 2015
Topics: [1] Small businesses can get IRS penalty relief for unfiled retirement plan returns; [2] Welcome to Direct Pay! Use this secure service to pay your individual tax bill or estimated tax payment from your checking or savings account; [3] Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act broadens the definition of 'qualified public safety employee' for employees exempt from the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans, and adds federal defined contribution plans to this exemption; [4] Trade Preferences Extension Act increases penalties for not filing information returns and payee statements on time, including Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Benefits professionals - Register by Aug. 21 and SAVE $200!

ALI CLE invites you to attend the nation's most comprehensive program focusing on special issues of tax-exempt and governmental employers and the compliance challenges they share with ERISA plans. Register by Aug. 21 and save $200 using code CX005BL.

[Guidance Overview]

The Future of Qualified Plan Determination Letters: Glimpses from the IRS (PDF)
"The difficulties that the proposed new regime will raise for employers are obvious.... Perhaps the IRS will mitigate this problem through generous exceptions to the general rule, but too much generosity will undermine the goal of easing the agency's work load.... It is also possible that the IRS will from time to time open the determination letter process on a selective basis for discrete issues or law changes. Steps like those would be somewhat useful but would not dissipate the cloud of uncertainty that would steadily gather over any long-lived plan." (Steptoe & Johnson LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Provides Guidance on Selection and Monitoring Under Annuity Selection Safe Harbor Regs for DC Plans
"[T]he prudence of a fiduciary decision is evaluated with respect to the information available at the time the decision was made -- and not based on facts that come to light only with the benefit of hindsight. The conditions of the Safe Harbor Rule embody this general principle of fiduciary prudence.... The periodic review requirement in the Safe Harbor Rule does not mean that a fiduciary must review the prudence of retaining an annuity provider each time a participant or beneficiary elects an annuity from the provider as a distribution option. The frequency of periodic reviews to comply with the Safe Harbor Rule depends on the facts and circumstances." (Cary Kane ERISA Lawyer Blog)  

LDI for DB Plans with Lump Sum Benefit Payment Options (PDF)
"A lump sum benefit payment option (not just a temporary window) can have a significant effect on the design of a DB plan's LDI strategy. Expected cash flows are less certain than they are for plans that offer only annuities. In addition, it may be difficult to determine the correct duration of plan liabilities by use of the expected cash flow information provided by the plan actuary alone. Determining duration may require more information (and possibly more liability cash flow calculations) from the plan's actuary than is available in the standard valuation output being produced." (Russell Investments)  

Which Works Best for Your Plan: Custom or Off-the-Shelf Target Date Strategies? (PDF)
12 pages. "Custom target date strategies can be precisely designed to meet specific plan requirements. These strategies can take into account employee demographics and particular plan design features (for example, a prohibition against plan loans or pre-retirement withdrawals). In a custom strategy, a plan sponsor can consolidate investment managers from defined benefit (DB) plans to potentially achieve economies of scale and realize savings on overall fees. But a substantial asset base (greater than $500 million) may be needed to secure those savings. Smaller plans will likely be better served by an off-the-shelf target date strategy. Effective communications are critical when implementing a custom strategy." (J.P. Morgan Asset Management)  

[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.

Planning for the Post-4% Generation
"The 4% rule was created by a financial planner named Bill Bengen more than 20 years ago.... Later studies by Wade Pfau, a professor of retirement income at The American College, found that the estimated failure rate of this approach was around 6%, meaning that 94% of the projected outcomes resulted in a safe retirement. However, the largest drivers of projected outcomes are the return assumptions, as well as the sequence of returns. In today's low-rate and expected-low-return environment, this rule may become more relevant than ever." (Investment News)  

DOL Explains Duration of Fiduciary Responsibilities Under Annuity Selection Safe Harbor
"One of the steps requires that the fiduciary appropriately conclude that, 'at the time of the selection,' the annuity provider is financially able to make all future payments under the annuity contract, and the contract's cost is reasonable for the benefits and services provided. According to [FAB 2015-02], the DOL seeks to clear up potential confusion over the duration of fiduciary responsibility to avoid discouraging plan sponsors from adding lifetime income distribution options to their plans." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

DOL Rule Affects More Than Advice, Financial Execs Say
"[C]orporate executives from the financial services industry ... say the rule would have an imprint on everything from product development to information technology to the revenue volume generated by individual business segments.... [T]aking the proposed rule at face value for the time being, DOL regulators are asking for so much precision and detail in how fees are allocated toward one transaction or another that there's even a danger that companies could report fees inaccurately, [Paul Reilly, CEO of Raymond James] said." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

DOL Fiduciary Proposal Elicits Torrent of Comments
"The department received 2,254 letters in all, with many groups representing retirement plan investment and service providers warning that while they support a standard that protects clients' best interests, new rules to ensure that in specific situations would be unworkable.... Also chiming in were members of Congress.... Hearings on the DOL proposal will be held the week of Aug. 10. The public comment period will reopen for up to 45 days after the hearing transcript is published in the Federal Register." (Pensions & Investments)  

Questions on DOL Fiduciary Proposal Focus on Preserving Annuity Business
"Investment advice fiduciaries to [IRA] could still receive commissions for transactions involving insurance and annuity contracts, but IRA fiduciaries would be required to comply with standards in the DOL's Best Interest Contract Exemption (BICE). In other words, under the proposal, 84-24 will no longer be available for variable annuity or mutual fund sales to IRAs. Advisors selling those products to IRA owners would have to rely on the more onerous best interest contract exemptions." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

New Jersey Pension Fund Seeks Billions in Damages from State
"In the latest salvo in the battle between New Jersey and its public workers, the heads of the state's largest pension funds are accusing the state of breaching its contract by underfunding government workers' pensions. The pension heads are seeking billions of dollars in damages.... [The complaint] argues that the [New Jersey] Supreme Court declared only the promise to make the appropriations unenforceable. The new argument hinges on a separate promise found elsewhere in the law." (NJ.com)  

Judge Rules Chicago Pension Reform Is Unconstitutional
"The law, signed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn in June 2014, raised employee and employer contributions and reduced retiree cost-of-living adjustments for the $5.1 billion Chicago Municipal Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund and $1.4 billion Chicago Laborers' Annuity & Benefit Fund.... The municipal workers' pension fund has just 42.1% of the assets it needs, with an unfunded liability of $7.13 billion ... The laborers' fund has 65.9% of the assets it needs, with an unfunded liability of $719 million. The municipal workers' fund is projected to run out of money in 2026, with the laborers' becoming insolvent three years later." (Pensions & Investments)  

Mercer Investments Grows Practice With Key Hires
Mercer

View All Press Releases