71 pages. "This document amends six class exemptions from prohibited transaction rules ... The amended exemptions are [PTEs] 75-1, 80-83, 81-8, 95-60, 97-41 and 2006-16. The amendments relate to the use of credit ratings as conditions in these class exemptions. Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the Department to remove any references to or requirements of reliance on credit ratings from its class exemptions and to substitute standards of creditworthiness as the Department determines to be appropriate."  MORE >>

"Plan documents, Summary Plan Descriptions and administrative practice should be reviewed and updated where needed to comply with the Proposed Regulations, which are generally to be effective on and after Jan. 1, 2022."  MORE >>

"[T]he Proposed Regulations confirm that non-governmental and church plan sponsors must provide actuarial benefit increases beginning at age 70-1/2 regardless of the plan's definition of required beginning date. For defined contribution plan sponsors, the Proposed Regulations also provide needed clarifications on the calculation of death benefits."  MORE >>

"The Second Circuit rejected Plaintiffs' argument that Defendants' reinterpretation of the Plan violated ERISA's anti-cutback rule ... Even though 'retire' was not defined prior to a 2012 amendment, it was reasonable for Defendants to interpret the Plan as not ever allowing for distributions in the manner that Defendants had previously practiced. The reinterpretation is not an amendment because the plan terms did not change, and Plaintiffs were not entitled to the accrued benefit they claim to have lost due to their continued employment." [Metzgar v. U.A. Plumbers and Steamfitters Local No. 22 Pension Fund, No. 20-3791 (2d Cir. Mar. 2, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Investment in private equity funds has long been a concern of practitioners, but generally with respect to the issue of whether it was holding plan assets, or could avoid that status as a venture capital operating company or a fund in which equity participation in the entity by benefit plan investors is not significant.... [R]ecently the focus has been upon offering private equity funds as a component part of an asset allocation fund, an issue that had been addressed both by the [DOL] and a California federal district court on multiple occasions[.]"  MORE >>

"The retirement industry showed increased interest in improving their mobile offerings but few trends emerged as dominant.... Navigation and design, profile management, transactions and account information all saw similar numbers of changes ... Retirement firms made fewer changes than those in mobile finance or insurance, although when firms made changes, they tended to be more significant than those in other verticals."  MORE >>

"Managing pension risk encompasses a variety of solutions -- from asset allocation strategies to group annuity transactions ... These options are placed along a 'de-risking spectrum,' of solutions for plan sponsors[.]"  MORE >>

"[T]he higher yields implicit from lower prices act as a great counterbalance on the pension plan balance sheet. Just in the first two months of this year, we are seeing lower liabilities from 6%-11% depending on duration thanks to a rising yield curve.... Only long-duration, open and accruing plans are seeing any meaningful gains thus far in 2022."  MORE >>

"Total-return plans with higher duration liabilities and lower fixed-income allocations may have experienced an increase in funded status compared to LDI-focused peers holding more long-dated bonds."  MORE >>

"The [latest update from the] PBGC Special Financial Assistance program ... showed one of the plans that previously filed and withdrew [has reapplied] -- Local Union No. 466 Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers Pension Plan out of Menands, NY which also recently filed a new 5500."  MORE >>

"After a week of rushing to enumerate their exposure to Russian assets, public pension funds have started to share their plans to divest from the country. But ongoing closures of the Moscow Stock Exchange, as well as the illiquidity of certain private assets, have made it difficult, if not impossible, for these major funds to divest immediately."  MORE >>

"In this post, [the authors] discuss a recent Kitces.com post defending the 4% Rule, and ... compare this widely-used rule of thumb with the Actuarial Financial Planner (AFP) approach for a hypothetical single retiree.... [T]he example illustrates that many retirees can better meet their spending goals and better manage their investment risk by using the AFP approach rather than the 4% Rule."  MORE >>

"Two recent cases illustrate how an organization can end up in serious and costly litigation based on statements that did not have to be made in SPDs that did not have to be issued."  MORE >>