Retirement Plan Manager
Chemung Canal Trust Company
in NY

Employee Benefits Staff Attorney
Haynes and Boone, LLP
in TX

Retirement Plan Consultant
Ascensus
in FL

Director, Employer Services & Solutions (Financial/Retirement Industry)
Ascensus
in PA

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RITA IRA Institute: A Focus on Self-directed IRA Administration and Investments
September 2, 2015 in NJ
(Retirement Industry Trust Association [RITA])

Future of Employer-Sponsored Health and Retirement Benefits
September 30, 2015 in DC
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Washington Metropolitan Chapter)

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Don Trone Blasts DOL Fiduciary Plan, Says Proposed Regs Wouldn't Have Stopped Madoff
"Don Trone, often referred to as the 'Father of Fiduciary,' testified .. that [the DOL's] proposed fiduciary rulemaking would have failed to stop famed Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, and that more fiduciaries than brokers have stolen money from investors.... Trone told the DOL execs ... that DOL 'cannot simply wave its regulatory wand and make every advisor a fiduciary.' ... DOL's plan 'is not a fiduciary standard, but rather punitive rules,' Trone continued, adding that the proposed plan is 'going to make it easier for bad advisors to hide behind the complexity of the rules, and make it harder for honest advisors to provide their services.' " (ThinkAdvisor)  

[Advert.]

Custom Target-Date Breakfast Briefing -- Chicago 9/10, NY 9/17

Register for a special breakfast meeting to hear plan sponsors' experiences on how custom target-date funds can provide plan participants tailored solutions outside a packaged approach with a focus on items to consider before implementation.

DOL Official Asks: Is It Naive to Permit Commission Sales at All?
"[A] top department official indicated he has started to worry that commission sales of investment products may be inherently 'conflicted' and unavoidably harmful to investors. Timothy Hauser, a DOL deputy assistant director, ... confessed that he had asked himself, 'Is lurking in [any financial firm's] policies and procedures ... a sense in which the firm's conflict of interest is just being directly transmitted to the advisor?' " (On Wall Street)  

ERISA Service Provider Contracts: The Significance of a Signature
"It is sadly rare to find a client that will read through service agreements and contracts word for word -- but upon examination of just this one agreement [the author is] overwhelmed at the number of 'the Client represents' and 'the Client acknowledges' and 'the Client agrees.' ... [M]any signers really do not fully comprehend the ramifications of the ERISA plan service agreements they execute with vendors. And that's dangerous because if anything goes wrong, it is on the 'Client.' " (Roland|Criss)  

Stress Metrics for Multiemployer Plans (PDF)
"This paper introduces two metrics for quantifying the financial stress posed by an ongoing plan's unfunded liability.... Key observations of these metric results across the MEPP universe from 2009 to 2013 include: ... [1] The vast majority of multiemployer pension plan participants are in plans for which the annualized cost of previously accrued benefits exceeds the costs of current benefit accruals and administrative expenses combined.... [2] [T]he highest stress levels are increasing over time. Only the lowest stress levels are improving appreciably." (Society of Actuaries)  

Obligation-Based Asset Allocation for Public Pension Plans
"Public plan investment strategies are naturally focused on generating as much return as possible, but risk must be considered as well. Risk should be defined relative to the obligation to pay the promised benefits with the least impact on stakeholders such as taxpayers and creditors.... Pension plans enjoy two luxuries that can help them to achieve those objectives -- a well- defined financial obligation and a long-term horizon. These advantages can be exploited to maximize return in the most risk-efficient way. The purpose of the obligation-based approach described in this paper is to take the right type of risk in the most effective manner possible." (Nuveen Asset Management)  

[Opinion]

American Benefits Council Says Proposed Fiduciary Rules at Odds with Plan Sponsor Efforts to Engage Participants and Encourage Educated Choices
"Plan sponsors are trying to enhance employee education and encourage participant engagement in their benefit programs using internal and external resources. Employers are concerned that the new conflict of interest and fiduciary definition rules will generate uncertainty, cost and potential liability. Without changes, this would result in employers pulling back on the tools they currently offer and could hurt the very people the Department is trying to protect." (American Benefits Council)  

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Disaster Relief for Victims of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides and Mudslides in Kentucky
"The President has declared Carter, Johnson, Rowan, and Trimble counties a federal disaster area.... [C]ertain deadlines falling on or after July 11, and on or before Nov. 2, have been postponed to Nov. 2, 2015. This includes the Sept. 15 estimated tax deadline and the Oct. 15 deadline for those who received an extension to file their 2014 return. A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected[.]" (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

2011-2014 Group Annuity Experience Study Data Request
Society of Actuaries

Life Insurance Industry Launches Fiduciary Regulation Ad Campaign
American Council of Life Insurers

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services Hires Jody Ackerman As Regional Vice President, Mid-Atlantic Division, Focusing on Central Ohio
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

ConnectYourCare, Leader in Consumer-Directed Health Care Solutions, Named to Inc. 500|5000 for Second Consecutive Year
ConnectYourCare

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