|
Retirement Plans Newsletter June 17, 2019 |
|
|
|
|
Webcasts, Conferences Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program
Getting It Right - Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities Seminar
|
|
Discussions |
|
This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
|
|
[Guidance Overview]
Plan Problems: What's New With Self Correction and VCP? "There are a few expanded opportunities provided under SCP and some clarification that certain activity will require correction through a VCP process.... The IRS has also issued clarification on some other items which, when corrected, should go through a VCP. The IRS has made accessing guidance on common failures, along with how to correct those failures very simple to find on their website. [This article] details some of the highlights on SCP, VCP, and where to locate the support you need."
|
|
[Advert.]
Earn your Certificate in Global Benefits Management in San Diego
Global employers must learn to navigate the increasingly complex challenges of international benefits and cultural expectations. Learn from industry experts and international residents while you earn your certificate this September. |
![Sponsored by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]](https://benefitslink.com/bnrs/2019/IFEBP_GlobalSept_top.png "Sponsored by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]")
|
Financial Reporting for Tribal 401(k) Plans "GASB No. 84 doesn't apply to a tribe's separately issued enterprise-fund financial statements if the enterprise funds aren't legally separate. However, a 401k plan may still be included in a tribal government's statements ... To determine if a legally separate casino sponsors its own 401k plan, consider if the casino can amend the vesting schedules in the plan document, appoint trustees, select the custodian, choose the third-party administrator (TPA), and appoint other service providers of the 401k plan. If so, the 401k plan will likely be included as a fiduciary activity."
|
|
Understanding Settlor Functions, Plan Expenses, and Who Can Pay What "While much of the guidance is informal, the DOL has provided plenty of instruction to plan fiduciaries to help them determine what fees may be paid by the plan and what fees must be paid by the plan sponsor."
|
|
These Companies Have the Best 401(k) Plans "What makes a high-quality plan? Low fees, of course. And a good company match.... Here are the top 401(k) plans across various industries -- including some, like health care and technology, that have above-average job growth."
|
|
401(k) Plans Loosen Vesting as Labor Market Gets Tighter "While experts agree that vesting schedules reduce costs, they question whether they indeed lower turnover, saying today's increasingly mobile workers will jump to new jobs for better-paying positions regardless of the money they leave behind in unvested company contributions."
|
|
CalPERS Using More ESG in Investment Strategy "CalPERS is stepping up its ESG investment program, despite evidence that funds based only on environmental, social and corporate governance strategies have tended to underperform.... CalPERS is working with Wellington Management and the Woods Hole Research Center on quantitative models and other analytical tools to improve the assessment of climate risk and investment outcomes."
|
|
Actuarial Equivalence and DB Plans "Philosophically, reflecting current mortality and interest in AE is a reasonable thing to do.... Litigating the issue from one side leaves sponsors trapped unfairly between a desire to bring their assumptions up to date, and anticutback regulations restricting their ability to do so.... Safe harbor regulations allowing for periodic AE updates without anticutback concerns would illuminate this admittedly obscure topic to the benefit of sponsors and participants alike."
|
|
[Opinion]
It's Proxy Season -- Here's Why That Matters for Public Pensions "The two largest proxy advisory firms ... control 97% of the advisory market.... These two companies recommend proxy proposals, provide suggestions to clients about how to vote on those proposals, and in some cases, vote their clients proxy.... [T]hey have the ability to control the entire proxy process which has led them to have a duopoly on how institutional investors vote.... [T]hese firms should be held to the same fiduciary standard to which money managers are held ... [T]hey should have to register with FINRA, and the SEC should assign fiduciary responsibility to them for their fiduciary advice."
|
|
[Opinion]
Will the SECURE Act Increase Retirement Security? "For years the retirement industry has bemoaned the lack of a lifetime income option in defined contribution plans.... DC plan sponsors have -- largely -- seen little upside in signing on for a decision that they see as carrying with it a liability that extends well beyond the employment relationship.... The SECURE Act attempts to resolve some of that resistance ... Arguably, a legislative safe harbor is 'safer' than one staked out by regulators, but plan fiduciaries hoping to find a fiduciary 'free pass' won't find one here, despite the concerns expressed in the Times."
|
|
[Opinion]
Establishing Dedicated Asset Reserves to Fund Different Types of Retirement Expenses "[The authors believe] that it would be beneficial for these two types of expenses to be further segmented into recurring and non-recurring core/adaptive expenses, and [also] believe using present values to develop the required reserves for these expense categories (and other expected expenses) is superior to using variations of the 4% Rule proposed by [Michael Kitces]."
|
|
Benefits in General |
|
Supreme Court Fills Docket with ERISA Cases "After more than two years since ... its last decision in a case involving [ERISA], the court's next term looks to be flush with ERISA issues.... The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in two ERISA cases in as many weeks, and it seems likely the court may grant review in at least one other case."
|
|
"The court considered and rejected the Welfare Fund's arguments that [the plaintiff] is not entitled to equitable relief. First, it found that surcharge does not require traceability. The court explained that the Welfare Fund confused restitution with surcharge which does not require unjust enrichment nor the loss of particular plan funds. Amara extended the surcharge remedy to a breach of trust committed by a fiduciary encompassing any violation of a fiduciary duty." [DeRogatis v. Bd. of Trustees of the Welfare Fund of the Int'l Union of Operating Engineers Local 15, 15A, 15C & 15D, AFL-CIO, No. 14-8863 (S.D.N.Y. June 13, 2019)]
|
|
Selected Discussions |
|
Summary Annual Report Model Notice Updates: What Changed? With the newly released Summary Annual Report model notice updates, were any changes actually made to the wording from the prior version?
|
|
What Happens If Safe Harbor Matching Contribution Is 'Late'? Payroll-based SHM is not deposited by the end of the quarter after the deferrals were taken. What are the consequences?
|
|
► 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 |
|
OneDigital Acquires Ironview Employee Benefits
|
|
Principal Announces New Retirement and Income Solutions Leaders
|
|
AIG Life & Retirement Brings Consumers a New Level of Customization for Polaris Variable Annuities with Greater Flexibility, Personalization and Control
|
|
Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue |
|
Text of DOL Final Regs: Electronic Filing of Notices for Apprenticeship and Training Plans and Statements for 'Top Hat' Plans
|
Connect
|
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 2019 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.