DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.

Territory Sales Manager
Milliman
in TX

Internal Sales/Support Specialist
TPA Firm
in CO

Relationship Manager
National Qualified Plan Provider
in CT, GA, MO

ESOP and 401(k) Administrator
Primark Benefits
in CA

Pension Administrator
Primark Benefits
in CA

Benefits Compliance Associate
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association [NRECA]
in VA

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

What the Healthcare Law Means for your Small Business
October 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(U.S. Small Business Administration [SBA])

Hot Buttons in Executive Compensation and Dodd-Frank: A Roundup of Recent Developments
October 20, 2015 in NY
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - New York Chapter)

Benefit Plan Vendor Agreements From the Employer’s Perspective: Better Know What’s in the Fine Print!
October 22, 2015 in CA
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter)

IRA Reporting
December 3, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

PBGC Issues Final Reportable Event Regs (PDF)
"The new regulations significantly revise longstanding rules governing when administrators and sponsors of defined benefit pension plans need to report certain events to PBGC and signal a fundamental shift in PBGC's view of the types of events that merit the agency's attention. In particular, the final regulations focus on indicators of plan sponsors' financial health rather than merely the health of the pension plans." (Groom Law Group)  

[Advert.]

Start your FREE Trial Today: Benefits Practice Resource Center

The Benefits Practice Resource Center is the authoritative, integrated solution that brings you time-saving answers. Start your trial and get Bloomberg BNA's report, Anthem Data Breach: Benefit Plan Fiduciaries -- Managing and Controlling Plan Records.

Selecting Service-Providers: How Plan Sponsors Can Prepare and Process RFPs (PDF)
"The focus of this paper is to provide an outline of best practices a Plan Sponsor can utilize to undertake a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for 457(b), 401(a), 403(b), grandfathered 401(k), or any combination thereof. The information outlined in this document will apply to Plan Sponsors of all sizes; from the smaller end of the market (sub-$20M in plan assets) to jumbo with assets in excess of $1 billion." (National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators [NAGDCA])  

How Has Shift to Defined Contribution Plans Affected Saving?
"Many believe that people are saving less for retirement due to the shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) plans. The analysis uses National Income and Product Accounts data, with adjustments, to compare DB benefit accruals with DC contributions from 1984-2012. The results show that the percentage of total salaries going to retirement saving has declined slightly during this period. But if returns on asset accumulations are included, the annual change in pension wealth is relatively steady, so the shift to DC plans has not led to less total saving. What has changed is that individuals, rather than plan sponsors, now bear all of the risk." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)  

The Schwab Self-Directed Brokerage Account Indicators, Second Quarter 2015 (PDF)
12 pages. "Participant account balances in the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA) were slightly down, .07% from last quarter and up 3.8% from a year ago with the average participant account balance at $206,564. Participants remained fairly active in Q2 with the majority of trading activity taking place in Mutual Funds and Equities. Apple (AAPL) stock remains as the top overall holding in PCRA growing to 12.14%, while the number of participants aged 50 and older remained the largest age demographic in PCRA at 53.30%." (Charles Schwab)  

Employee Asset Protection and State Auto-IRA Programs
"Any payroll based deposit program is subject to the vagaries of an employer's cash flow, and this will be a particularly acute problem in the small employer marketplace ... [Will] auto-IRA participants then would be left unprotected if ERISA doesn't apply? ... There is a variety of state law criminal and civil causes of actions which can be taken against bad acting employers who don't make timely deposit of auto-IRA [contributions]. But, almost surprisingly, there is the possibility that the DOL and the IRS still may have jurisdiction over these deposits under (of all things) the Tax Code's prohibited transaction rules-even if ERISA does not apply." (Business of Benefits)  

[Advert.]

Webconference Series For Retirement Plan Committee Presenters

This initiative helps client relationship managers, account managers, and plan investment advisors effectively lead plan committee meetings to promote effectiveness, client engagement, and innovation.

The Prudent Fiduciary's Response to Changes in the Money Market Fund Rules
"The SEC's modifications to the money market fund rules won't become effective for approximately a year, but plan fiduciaries should already be considering what to do about them. Almost certainly, they'll need to make changes in their plan's investments, and they should also be talking to their service providers about how to deal with the changes. In the context of investments, though, the question is, what changes?" (Drinker Biddle for Reliance Trust)  

Steps for Plan Sponsors to Take After Panicky Plan Participants Locked in Their Losses
"Aon Hewitt ... recently reported that 401(k) plan participant trading on Friday, August 21 was twice the normal level. Aon Hewitt also said that on Monday, August 24 participant trading was 7 times normal. The firm noted that virtually all trading movement on those days was out of equities and into fixed income.... All who practiced this strategy likely locked in large losses when they sold out of their equity positions at the worst possible time -- when the equity markets were down sharply.... [T]he best service we advisors provide for your plan participants is educating them about market volatility and being ready to take their phone calls when they are scared and about to make a bad decision." (Lawton Retirement Plan Consultants)  

Ways to Deal with Market Losses in Retirement, Part Two: What to Do After the Market Recovers
"[1] Allocate appropriately.... [2] Maintain conservative withdrawal assumptions ... [3] Implement a bucket strategy for your retirement income needs." (Pension Consultants, Inc.)  

The Most Important Piece of Information IRA Beneficiaries Must Know
"When you inherit an IRA, don't immediately take a distribution! By doing so, you may lose an important tax break, the ability to stretch required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the inherited IRA over your life expectancy and even have the RMDs continue to a successor beneficiary after your death. While there has been legislation proposed to eliminate the 'stretch' tax break for IRA beneficiaries, currently it still remains available and beneficiaries will want to know how to take advantage of it." (Slott Report)  

[Opinion]

Does an Investment Policy Statement Invite Lawsuits?
"Some 'experts' claim the less you give to your client in writing, the better. It minimizes the chance of a lawsuit.... Having an [IPS] is all about trust and disclosure; it's about transparency.... The more the client knows what they are going to get from you and the more they know that you understand them, the more comfortable the relationship between the two of you is going to be." (fi360)  

[Opinion]

DOL Publishes Comments on Proposed Conflict of Interest Rule Submitted after Public Hearing
The DOL has begun posting comments received during the reopened public comment period, which began after the public hearing held in August. As of this date, some 250+ comments have been posted. The comment period will end September 24. (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

Fifth Circuit Severance Pay Decision Emphasizes the Need for a Strong Administrative Record
"[T]he court found that the severance plan administrator acted arbitrarily and capriciously because the administrative record contained no specific evidence supporting the determination that the plaintiff was fired for a violation of the employer's policies.... The court found that a mere citation to a policy, absent any specific evidence indicating how the policy was violated, was not substantial evidence that the plaintiff was actually fired for having violated the policy. Importantly, the court also found that the plan administrator failed to provide the plaintiff with a full and fair review of the claim because the plan administrator did not describe the specific reasons for the denial of benefits as required by [DOL] regulations" [Napoli v. Johnson & Johnson, Inc. No. 14-31000, (5th Cir. Sept. 8, 2015; unpublished)] (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

When Does ERISA Govern a Severance Plan?
"The court first observed that ERISA's definition of employee welfare benefit plan was expansive, including 'any plan, fund, or program,' and explained: '[u]se of the word "any" and inclusion of three undefined, overlapping descriptors (plans, funds, and programs) suggests that Congress intended the definition of "employee welfare benefit plan" to be broad and independent of the specific form of the plan.' ... The court noted that ERISA did not require long-term commitments or discretionary determinations, but stated that 'these factors are useful analytic tools to the extent that they help us decide the ultimate question of whether a particular undertaking or obligation is a "plan, fund, or program" '." [Okun v. Montefiore Medical Center, No. 13-3928 (2d Cir. July 17, 2015)] (Begos Brown & Green LLP)  

Alliance Benefit Group has added Professional Capital Services to its National Network
Alliance Benefit Group

ECFC Announces the Appointment of Robert L. Natt to Board of Directors
ECFC [Employers Council on Flexible Compensation]

Beacon Benefits, Inc. is Certified to Industry Best Practices
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

View All Press Releases