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Retirement Plans Newsletter November 4, 2019 |
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Webcasts, Conferences Legislative Update & Year-end Review
Ethics in the Retirement Plan World
Regulation Best Interest Vendor Forum
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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[Official Guidance]
"PBGC is proposing to modify the Form 10 for the 'Failure to make required contributions' reportable event to provide that if payment was made to satisfy a missed contribution, the filer must submit documentation of that payment, e.g., a copy of the cancelled check or wire transfer, etc.... PBGC is proposing to modify the [Form 200] to include a separate field showing the payment amount that triggered the notification in order to better track missed contributions and identify the amount by which liens associated with missed contributions must be updated.... PBGC is proposing to eliminate the email option for filings due after September 30, 2021. In other words, starting in October 2021, these filings would have to be submitted via PBGC's e-filing portal."
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[Sponsored]
Electronic Disclosure under ERISA: How to Effectively Use Technology without Sacrificing Compliance
Dec. 3 webinar. Gain a better understanding of how to use technology while staying compliant under ERISA. BenefitsLink discount. |
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[Official Guidance]
Nov. 2019. "The Renewal Fee is $67. You must complete 72 hours of Continuing Professional Education (ERPA-CPE) over the three-year enrollment cycle to remain active. This must include at least 2 hours of Ethics CPE each year. Exception: If this is your first renewal, you have to complete 2 hours of CPE for each month you were enrolled, including 2 hours of Ethics each year."
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[Guidance Overview]
2019 PBGC Meeting with ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (PDF) 13 pages. Topics include:
Joint Committee on Employee Benefits [JCEB], American Bar Association |
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[Guidance Overview]
"The new proposed safe harbor has a number of requirements that will be familiar to plan administrators with respect to most DOL disclosures, including that the covered documents be presented in a manner calculated to be understood by the average participant. However, there are a number of more specific technical requirements that will likely require some advanced planning on behalf of plan administrators."
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Recordkeeping Fees Under the Microscope "[P]er-participant recordkeeping fees are becoming the expected best practice, no matter what size the plan. Plaintiffs’ attorneys and progressive plan sponsors ... [argue] that, with today’s digital recordkeeping technology, it is no more work for the plan provider to administer an account with $1,000,000 versus an account with $100. Thus, the argument goes, it is not reasonable under ERISA for the fee to grow while the service being provided remains the same."
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[Sponsored]
Now is a great time to join Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)
Worldwide Employee Benefits Network helps connect you with thought leaders in the Benefits Industry. Join WEB today at www.webnetwork.org. |
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58 pages. "This practice note was prepared ... to provide information to actuaries on current and emerging practices for measuring obligations of defined benefit pension plans that include variable annuity benefits.... While many actuaries believe that the pure variable annuity valuation model discussed in this practice note is an appropriate starting point for plans that deviate only modestly from the pure variable annuity design, the IRS has not provided any guidance (formal or informal) indicating an acceptance of this view."
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Pensions Are Paying Billions in 'Unnecessary' Private Real Estate Fees "Underfunded public pensions have shifted to riskier assets in hopes of high returns, but their reach for yield in non-core real estate funds is not paying off ... Investors could have collectively saved an average $7.5 billion a year in 'unnecessary investment-management fees' from 2000 through 2017 by adding more leverage to less risky, core assets rather than investing in non-core funds[.]"
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Investing for Income in Retirement "A combination of familiar strategies and investments can help maximize your portfolio's income potential.... Step 1: Build in downside protection ... Step 2: Focus on income and potential for growth ... Step 3: Consider a 'total return' approach."
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[Opinion]
DOL Proposes First Step Into the 21st Century for ERISA Participant Communications "Assuming there are no delays in the process, we could have a functioning, internet-based retirement plan communication system up by early 2020.... [J]ust how far can this new, internet-based approach to ERISA-required retirement plan communications be developed to, e.g., improve employee outcomes?"
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[Opinion]
ARA Submits Comments on Open MEPs "As for what type of person or persons should be recognized as capable of being an 'employer' ... for purposes of establishing and maintaining an open MEP, the ARA responded, 'Though the meanings of acting 'directly as an employer' or 'indirectly in the interest of an employer' is not made clear in the statute, the ARA believes that there should not be restrictions on the type of commercial entities (e.g., banks, insurance companies, pension recordkeepers, and TPAs) that may be treated as an 'employer' under the 'indirectly in the interest' clause.' "
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Press Releases |
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Women in Pensions Network Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
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HUB International Acquires Alberta-Based RBI Advisory Group
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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue |
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DOL Attempts to Modernize Its Electronic Disclosure Rules with Proposed Safe Harbor
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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
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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.
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