ASPPA

Account Manager
National Retirement Services, Inc.
in CA

Pensions Field Service Rep
Nationwide
in FL

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New Rights, New Rules: Same-Sex Marriage and Your Health Plan
August 18, 2015 WEBCAST
(Cammack Health)

Next Generation of Pension Risk Management Strategies
August 26, 2015 WEBCAST
(Aon Hewitt)

Employee Benefits Ready: Captives, a Form of Self-funding and Retirement Plan Audits
August 26, 2015 in NC
(Hill, Chesson & Woody)

Resolving Challenges with the Upcoming ACA Requirements
September 11, 2015 WEBCAST
(Midwest Business Group on Health)

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[Guidance Overview]

The Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs: Investment Education vs. Advice
"DOL's proposal would (more or less) re-define any asset allocation recommendation that identifies specific funds, and any communication about distributions that recommends a specific form of distribution, as 'advice.' ... [T]he proposal problematizes communications to participants about distributions. And the proposed participant education 'carve out' would, in effect, set the limits to what an 'educator' can say about distributions without triggering advice status. Clearly, you couldn't say anything favoring (recommending) one distribution option over another." (October Three Consulting)  

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[Guidance Overview]

Salvaging the Benefits of a Spousal Rollover When the Beneficiary Designation Is Wrong
"Two recent private rulings confirm ... that a spousal rollover often can be salvaged even when the decedent did not properly designate the spouse as beneficiary. The IRS will still allow a rollover if the spouse can dictate all the actions necessary to cause the account to be paid to him or her." (Schiff Hardin)  

Are 401(k) Investment Menus Set in Best Interest of Plan Participants?
"Mutual fund companies that are trustees of 401(k) plans must serve plan participants' needs, but they also have an incentive to promote their own funds. The analysis suggests that these trustees tend to favor their own funds, especially their poor-quality funds. And 401(k) participants do not offset this bias by shifting their savings away from trustee-affiliated funds. In short, fund companies serving as trustees often make decisions that appear to adversely affect employees' retirement security." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

DOL Assistant Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi's Welcoming Remarks at Hearing on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"The 1975 rule makes it too easy for advisers, brokers, and consultants to evade fiduciary status ... Unless the adviser meets each and every part of a rigid, outdated five-part test with respect to each instance of advice, the adviser is not a fiduciary with respect to that advice, and need not act in the customer's best interest.... [T]he status quo does not adequately protect today's retirement investors and undermines the protective purposes of the broad fiduciary provisions in ERISA and the Tax Code. The retirement landscape has changed profoundly in the intervening years.... This is not a case of bad people doing bad things. It's about good people operating within a structurally flawed system. And it's that we are trying to change." (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

Hearings on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs Kick Off in Washington
"There is perhaps no better venue than a marathon Labor Department hearing to show what practices and beliefs most divide an industry.... Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, CFP Board managing director of public policy and communications ... argued against the common industry conjecture that the new fiduciary rule, as written, would severely challenge the commissioned-based broker/dealer business model and force advisers into fee-based models that will be may be more expensive for consumers.... Citing figures from the U.K., where related conflict of interest rulemaking was debated and adopted, [Nick Lane, chairman of the board of directors for the Insured Retirement Institute] predicted up to 25% of advisers 'could leave the industry within the first year of implementation of this rule.' " (PLANSPONSOR)  

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Two Sides Take Opposing View on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"The old standard, which does not require clients' interests to be the first consideration, is outdated and needs to be amended now, according to testimony given Monday by representatives of the Financial Planning Coalition ... At the same time, the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) says the new rule is too complicated and will limit investors' access to financial advice. The FSR represents large financial services companies that provide banking, insurance and investment products and services." (Financial Advisor)  

Administration Proposals May Shut Down Certain Retirement Planning Techniques
"The proposal also focuses on creating a 28% maximum tax benefit for contributions and accruals of benefits inside of an individual's 401(k)s, defined benefit plans, and IRAs. A taxpayer in the 28% ordinary income tax bracket or lower would be unaffected by this provision. However, a taxpayer in a higher tax bracket (i.e., the 33%, 35%, or 39.6%) would not receive a full tax deduction for amounts contributed or deferred into a retirement plan." (Schneider Downs)  

New Statistics Show a Different Type of Income Inequality
"[O]nly 40 percent of lower-wage workers in the private sector have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan while 86 percent of higher-wage workers do.... Only 19 percent of lower-wage private-sector employees participate in a plan versus 75 percent of higher-wage employees. This gap can be explained by the fact that low-wage workers are less likely to have extra income to stash away in a retirement plan." (Pension Rights Center)  

[Opinion]

Statement by Investment Company Institute on Regulatory Impact Analysis for Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"First, neither the Impact Analysis nor the studies it cites measure the key factor: is an investor's performance different when the adviser is a fiduciary versus when the adviser is not? Second, the studies that the Analysis cites do not reflect current market conditions. Third, the Impact Analysis misapplies the numerical results of a key study, leading to a vast overstatement of potential benefits. Fourth, the Analysis fails to consider readily available data that contradict its claims about broker-sold funds. And fifth, the Impact Analysis fails to consider that some investors, particularly those of modest means, may face increased costs if the proposed rule forces them to migrate to fee-based accounts -- or to go without financial advice altogether." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])  

[Opinion]

Testimony of Investment Company Institute at DOL Hearing on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"[If] the Department adopts the rules as proposed, we have grave concerns that retirement savers will be harmed, not helped. As drafted, the proposal will limit retirement savers' choice of advice provider and will restrict savers' access to information they need for retirement planning. It also will increase costs, particularly for those retirement savers who can least afford it." (Investment Company Institute [ICI])  

[Opinion]

Testimony of PSCA at DOL Hearing on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"Plan sponsors are concerned that the availability of educational services will be limited or become more costly if the Proposed Rule is finalized without additional clarification. Our principal concern is that if investment education is deemed to be 'investment advice,' providers may no longer offer these services or will impose advisory-level fees, making the information unattainable for many employees." (Plan Sponsor Council of America [PSCA])  

[Opinion]

Testimony of Ron Rhoades at DOL Hearing on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"The huge extraction of rents by Wall Street and the insurance companies must stop. The size of the financial services sector, relative to the overall U.S. economy, has grown from under 3% in 1950 to well over 30%, and perhaps even 40%, today.... Due to conflicts of interest, many individual investors have not accumulated enough for retirement. As a result, the burden upon federal, state and local governments to provide for our retired citizens increases.... The fiduciary standard is a much-needed correction to the current unworkable system for the provision of retirement advice. The suitability standard, on the other hand, is not the answer." (Ron Rhoades)  

[Opinion]

Testimony of Insured Retirement Institute at DOL Hearing on Proposed Conflict of Interest Regs
"IRI strongly urges the Department to remove the exclusion for variable annuity IRA sales from the proposed amendment to PTE 84-24.... We believe many of the conditions included in [the proposed Best Interests Contract Exemption] will be so onerous or impossible to comply with that lifetime income products and vital sources of annuity product distribution information will no longer be available to consumers." (Insured Retirement Institute [IRI])  

[Guidance Overview]

The CEO Pay Ratio Final Rule: What You Need to Know (PDF)
9 pages. "The final rules are largely consistent with the proposed rules issued by the SEC in September 2013 ... [Q&As in this article summarize] the key requirements of the final rules.... Despite the flexibility incorporated into the final rule, the process will likely be both time consuming and costly for many registrants." (Shearman & Sterling LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

OECD Opens Revised Core Principles of Private Pension Regulation (PDF)
"The new [Core Principles of Occupational Pension Regulation] ... are no longer limited to 'occupational', or employment-based pensions. They now cover personal or individual pensions as well, which exist in many countries, notably with IRAs in the U.S.... Section 4.16 of the Core Principles discourages investment in employer stock, such as with employee stock ownership plans in the U.S. (ESOPs).... Section 6.31 ... provides some protections for the pension plan sponsors: 'Once a problem is identified, a clear and well-defined "due process" should be followed.' " (Groom Law Group)  

ISS 2016 Policy Survey: Expanded Focus on Executive Compensation and Incentive Plan Design
"Relative to last year's survey and eventual policy updates focusing on equity plan and say-on-pay evaluations, this year's survey is a notably light in terms of executive compensation issues, with only three main questions overall.... [1] Incentive plan design (U.S.) ... [2] Say on pay for externally managed issuers (U.S. and Canada) ... [3] Non-executive directors and equity (global)." (Towers Watson)  

New Compensation Disclosures for Public Companies
"[T]here is a high likelihood that the disclosure requirement will create shareholder relations challenges and increase the incidences in which shareholders vote 'no' under the say-on-pay rule. The rule will likely cause companies to spend time managing what, in many instances, will be considered an embarrassing disclosure of CEO compensation that may appear excessive." (Littler)  

Harrison Group, Inc Announces Laura Bracale as Director of Marketing
Harrison Group

IRS Seeks Applications for Advisory Committee for the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division
IRS [Internal Revenue Service]

Cambridge’s Retirement Center Introduces Robust On-Line Retirement Resources
Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.

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