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Retirement Plans Newsletter

February 1, 2022

7 New Job Opportunities 7 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

DOL Issues New Guidance on Private Equity Investments in Individual Account Plans

"The supplemental statement makes two principal points. The first clarifies that the June 3, 2020 information letter was not 'balanced with counter-arguments and research data' concerning the risks of private equity investments.... The second point is that some plan fiduciaries may not have the level of knowledge necessary to evaluate private equity investments and may need to seek assistance from qualified advisors."  MORE >>

Faegre Drinker

[Guidance Overview]

Illinois Secure Choice Retirement Program: Everything You Need to Know

"Employees are enrolled with a default 5% contribution rate into a default target date fund based on their expected retirement age. Employees can choose to save more or less, and may select alternative investment options.... [E]mployees are not required to participate ... and can opt-out at any time."  MORE >>

Vestwell

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon District Court Grants Intel's Motion to Dismiss Claim Over Use of 'Non-Traditional Assets' in a TDF

"[T]he court's analysis of what is the proper comparator/benchmark to judge whether a TDF has 'underperformed' focuses on the critical issue of the similarity (between the proposed benchmark and the challenged TDF) of aims, risks, and potential rewards ... [In] view of the [DOL's] recent 'Supplemental Statement' on the inclusion of private equity investments as a 'component' of, e.g., a target date fund, the case presents a real world test of the prudence, under ERISA, of that strategy." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm., No. 19-4618 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2022)]  MORE >>

October Three Consulting

Tax Court Rejects Aggressive IRA Investment Strategy with Coins in an LLC

"Ms. McNulty then took physical possession of the AE coins and placed them in a home safe with non-IRA assets ... In so doing, she relied on a statement on the LLC vendor's website that advertised that an LLC owned by an IRA could invest in AE coins, and IRA owners could hold the coins at their homes, without tax consequences or penalties so long as the coins were titled to the LLC. The LLC marketers believed they had found a proverbial tax loophole, but the Tax Court disagreed." [McNulty v. Comm'r, No. 1377-19 (T.C. Memo Nov. 18, 2021)]  MORE >>

The Wagner Law Group

Supreme Court Sides with 401(k) Participants

"Unfortunately for 401(k) plan sponsors, the Supreme Court rejected the Seventh Circuit's defense without providing its own alternative. If a plan has one poor fund among its 20 offerings, has the sponsor been imprudent? Five funds? What about 10? The court gave no guidance.... [W]hile the Supreme Court has affirmed that context matters ... the Court has not described that context." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 19-1401 (S. Ct. Jan. 24, 2022)]  MORE >>

Morningstar

Considering an Early Retirement Program? Be Sure to Plan Ahead

"Employers use [early retirement incentive programs (ERIPs)] for a variety of reasons, including bottom-line cost cutting, encouraging healthy turnover, and minimizing entrenchment ... Whatever the basis of an employer's decision, it must consider certain basic business and legal principles before implementing an ERIP."  MORE >>

Foley & Lardner LLP

[Opinion]

The Best Retirement Structures Incorporate Longevity Pooling and Benefit Flexibility

"To provide more efficiency in delivering retirement benefits, we need a fresh look at retirement vehicle options.... [T]wo central points [drive] better outcomes with similar costs: [1] Longevity risks should be pooled; [2] Benefit payments should incorporate some level of flexibility ... [There are] options now to deliver on these better structures. Given the deep feeling of unease, these options need more visibility. Regulatory change can further expand on them."  MORE >>

Milliman

[Opinion]

401(k) Fiduciary Focus: How Does Risk Tolerance Harm Retirement Savers?

"A method with greater practicality doesn't look at risk at all. It merely looks at where the retirement saver needs to be and what must be done to get there. Yes, there's a way to incorporate 'risk tolerance,' but only as a way of identifying sacrifices investors must accept. It, therefore, becomes a matter of managing expectations.... The problem, however, is that risk tolerance is embedded in the entire infrastructure[.]"  MORE >>

Fiduciary News; free registration required

Benefits in General

Overview of Employee Benefits Provided to State and Local Government Employees (PDF)

"As of early 2021, there were approximately 18.5 million state and local government employees, across all 50 U.S. states, approximately 39,000 general-purpose local governments, and 51,000 special districts, filling positions in education, utilities, transportation, hospitals, and general administration, among other key responsibilities. This Issue Brief details the benefits provided to these public servants[.]"  MORE >>

Mission Square Research Institute

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
for Bates & Company, Inc. Retirement Plan Administrator

Bates & Company, Inc.

Remote / Winter Park FL

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
for Bates & Company, Inc.

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
for KB Pension Services Retirement Plan Administrator

KB Pension Services

Remote

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
for KB Pension Services

View job as Retirement Specialist, Revenue
for Guideline, Inc. Retirement Specialist, Revenue

Guideline, Inc.

Remote / CA / CO / FL / GA / MA / ME / MI / NC / NY / OH / OR / PA / SC / TX / WA

View job as Retirement Specialist, Customer Operations
for Guideline, Inc. Retirement Specialist, Customer Operations

Guideline, Inc.

Remote / CA / CO / FL / GA / MA / ME / MI / NC / NY / OH / OR / PA / SC / TX / WA

View job as Retirement Plan Consultant (RPC)
for Qualified Plan Consultants, LLC (QPC) Retirement Plan Consultant (RPC)

Qualified Plan Consultants, LLC (QPC)

Remote

View job as Plan Services Consultant
for CUNA Mutual Group Plan Services Consultant

CUNA Mutual Group

Remote / Madison WI

View job as Employee Benefits Associate - Junior Level
for Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Employee Benefits Associate - Junior Level

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Seattle WA

Selected New Discussions

DOL Cybersecurity Topics

"I'm having a meeting with my cybersecurity consultants on Monday, and I figured I'd bring them the latest guidance we have to try and follow. Are those 3 pdfs from the DOL in April 2021 (news release here) pretty much what we have officially (or semi-officially)?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

Mintz Announces Updated Compassionate Leave Policy for Losses Including Miscarriage, Failed Surrogacy, Adoption, or Fertility Treatment

Mintz

Family Law Trial Attorney Patrick Galasso Joins The Wagner Law Group

Wagner Law Group P.C.

OneDigital Acquires Benefit Services Group

OneDigital

Empower Renames to Bolster Engagement With Customers

Empower Retirement

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

A Decade in Review: The 2021 Defined Benefit Trends Survey

RECORDED

NEPC

IRA Institute

February 21, 2022 in MN

Ascensus

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Supreme Court Rules on Retirement Plan Fiduciary Duty in Hughes v. Northwestern University

Congressional Research Service [CRS]

DOL Cautions DC Plan Fiduciaries About Private Equity Offerings

Mercer

Misinformation: The Assertion by NIRS That DB Plans Are Twice as Efficient as DC Plans

Larry Pollack

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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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