Retirement Plans Newsletter

November 12, 2018

BenefitsLink.com logo
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com logo
Search   ·   Past Issues   ·   Get Message Boards Digest   ·   Get Health & Welfare News

Jobs

Retirement Plan Consultant/Actuary
BCG, Inc
in NJ

DC Plan Administrator
Actuarial Data Inc.
in PA

Benefits Analyst
UC Davis Medical Center
in CA

401(k) Pension Administrator
Capital Retirement Plan Services, Inc
in PA

Document & Design Specialist
OneAmerica
in IN

►See All Jobs

►Post a Job


Webcasts, Conferences


Discussions

New Topics on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

New Comments and Topics

All Topics, Grouped by Forum


This Newsletter:
Subscribe Now

BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter:
Subscribe Now

Message Boards Digest:
Subscribe Now


Regulation Moves to Expand MEPs

"From a fiduciary standpoint, the regulation would clarify some of the questions around MEPs. Under the proposal, an employer would execute an agreement that spells out the rights and obligations of the MEP sponsor and participating employer. As such, the individual participating employers would not be viewed as the sponsor, plan administrator, or named fiduciary under ERISA, but would retain some fiduciary responsibility for choosing and monitoring the arrangement, and forwarding required contributions to the MEP."
Callan

[Advert.]

The Inside Scoop on Pension Plan Termination

Sponsored by Findley

We'll look at Findley's PlanTerm™ Financial Modeler, how to prepare the participant data needed, and tips to build consensus among stakeholders. Register now for this December 5 webinar.


Key Considerations for ERISA Investors in Private Investment Funds

"[R]eviewing the terms of the fund documents is a critical aspect to a fiduciary's satisfaction of its fiduciary duties with respect to such investment.... [T]he terms of the fund documents may dictate whether an investment in the fund is an appropriate one for a particular ERISA investor, or whether it is flat out prohibited, or maybe just likely to result in a potential issue, such as a non-exempt prohibited transaction. Similarly, if the ERISA related terms of the fund documents are completely off market in a negative way, then that might make it more difficult for a plan fiduciary to make the case that investing in such a fund is prudent."
Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center

Workers Rely Heavily on Equity Compensation to Build Wealth, but Hold Too Much Company Stock

"[P]articipants who receive stock options or restricted stock awards and/or participate in employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs), equity compensation accounts on average for nearly 30 percent of employees' net worth. Millennial employees have a greater share of their net worth in equity compensation than do their Gen X and Boomer counterparts (42%, compared to 24% and 19%, respectively). Almost three-quarters (73%) of employees surveyed also own company stock outside of their equity compensation plan, most (44%) in their workplace retirement plans."
Charles Schwab

Pension Investing: The Next Generation of Glide Paths

"[W]hile hitting a trigger lowers portfolio risk by moving assets from growth to hedging, it doesn't help to protect the amount of assets still in the growth portfolio from a market downturn.... [At] the later stages of a glide path, many glide paths don't provide enough growth allocation to allow a plan to reach a higher funded status in a relatively short period of time without future cash contributions from the plan sponsor.... [H]ow can we better control downside risk as well as maintain a higher greater allocation to the growth portfolio throughout the glide path in order to reduce expected contributions?"
River and Mercantile Solutions

SEC Investor Advisory Committee Calls for Stronger Best Interest Regulations

"The IAC says there are some actions that the SEC should take to ensure that this goal is put into action, starting with clarifying that the standard for broker/dealers and investment advisers should always be to act in their customers' best interests. The IAC would also like the SEC to expand the best interest obligation to dual registrant firms with respect to rollover and account recommendations."
planadviser

Advisors and 3(16) Fiduciary Outsourcing

"Nearly all (over 80 percent) of advisors surveyed are familiar with 3(16) outsourcing. 84 percent of advisors surveyed are considering recommending 3(16) administrative services. Just over half (56 percent) of advisors' clients are receptive to 3(16) outsourcing services. When asked what makes outsourcing services most attractive to clients, the number one answer was that it 'mitigates retirement plan risks.' 75 percent of advisors surveyed are actively discussing 3(16) fiduciary outsourcing with their clients."
Pentegra

Funded Status Declines by $13 Billion in October (PDF)

"As of October 31, the funded ratio moved to 93.4% from 94.4% reported at the end of September. October's significant investment loss brings the year-to-date investment performance to a loss of 1.99%. Pension liabilities have fallen by 7.28% year-to-date as discount rates have risen, resulting in an overall funded status improvement of $117 billion so far in 2018."
Milliman

Tracking Down an Unpaid Pension or 401(k) Can Be Tough

"It is estimated that there are $156 billion in unclaimed pension benefits owed to retirees in the United States. What if the company insists they can't find you in the system and claims you're not owed a pension? Or the plan administrator swears that you were already paid a lump sum years ago?"
Detroit Free Press

Benefits in General

Public-Sector Employees Want Customized Benefits

"Millennials ... currently comprise only 25% of [the public sector] workforce.... 80% of Millennials find career development, advancement opportunities and on-the-job training important and say these factors would increase their loyalty towards their employer. Only 29% of public-sector Millennial employees have access to financial planning tools, whereas 42% of total Millennials employees have such access."
PLANSPONSOR

Executive Compensation
and Nonqualified Plans

Long-Term Incentives a Major Driver of S&P 1500 CEO Compensation

"[T]otal direct compensation is approaching $11 million at the median for S&P 500 companies, $6 million for S&P 400 companies and $3.5 million for S&P 600 companies.... S&P 1500 CEO salaries rose 2.1% in 2017 and 40% of CEOs receive a salary of over $1 million compared with 26% five years ago. But the real compensation boost came from earned pay, which rose 17.8% at the median for S&P 1500 CEOs compared with a 2.2% increase in 2016."
Willis Towers Watson

Selected Discussions
on the BenefitsLink Message Boards

OK for Investment Menu to Include a Non-Diversified Alternative?

A 401(k) plan provides participant-directed investments (with daily instructions). The plan's menu is filled with a broad range of diversified SEC-registered mutual funds. and includes an account that invests in the publicly-traded stock of an operating business. The stock is NOT employer securities. Assume the plan's administrator furnishes to participants every securities law report and other disclosure the stock's issuer has filed. (The administrator sends these to participants' work e-mail addresses and the plan's website a few minutes after the document is filed with the SEC or the stock exchange.) Is it enough that a participant can decide for himself or herself to invest in (or avoid) this stock?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

Pre-Tax or Roth Deferrals But Not Both?

Has anyone ever had a plan sponsor do this? Our standard document doesn't have this option but has a write in section where we could add language. I've never seen it before but I don't see it being an issue compliance wise. The plan sponsor can't figure out how to get their payroll system to do both so this was their solution.
BenefitsLink Message Boards

409A Plan for Payout to Former Employees?

Client sold assets of his business earlier this year. As part of asset sale, all employees were terminated and were hired by asset purchaser. Client wants to use the installment payment he will receive in 2020 as part of the asset sale to provide a bonus to his former employees based on performance criteria (i.e., their services to their new employer). I am having trouble wrapping my head around how Client can do this in the form of a nonqualified deferred comp plan. Any ideas?
BenefitsLink Message Boards

► Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Message Boards Digest— a free daily email of all new discussions (not just the selected few shown above). View a sample issue.

Press Releases

Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue

Connect   LinkedIn logo   Twitter logo   Facebook logo

BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
(407) 644-4146

Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager

BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587. Copyright 2018 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of those materials. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the content.

Links to web sites other than BenefitsLink.com and EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com are offered as a service to our readers; we were not involved in their production and are not responsible for their content.

Unsubscribe  |   Change Email Address  |   Privacy Policy