"Notice failures can result in penalties imposed by the [IRS] or [DOL], or lawsuits from participants who were not informed about important information that affected their decision-making.... [E]nsuring that all of your plan's required notices have been timely provided makes for a smoother audit process, whether it be the plan audit for your Form 5500 or a governmental audit of your plan."  MORE >>

"Examining and adding ESG is a challenge for DC plans because participants may not understand the terms and the underlying process, nor how the funds invest. The challenges for plan sponsors are educating retirement plan participants on ESG funds, communicating appropriate allocations to ESG funds and explaining terms and how sustainable funds invest[.]"  MORE >>

"After little analysis, the panels in both cases held that the plaintiffs adequately pleaded fiduciary breach claims based on allegations that plan fiduciaries should have offered lower-cost share classes of certain challenged funds.... [B]oth decisions appear to contradict a prior Ninth Circuit decision in White v. Chevron, Corp. where the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court's dismissal of strikingly similar claims." [Davis v. Salesforce.com, Inc., No. 21-15867 (9th Cir. Apr. 8, 2022; unpub.); Kong v. Trader Joe's Co., No. 20-56415 (9th Cir. Apr. 15, 2022; unpub.)  MORE >>

"This report was prepared to provide an overview of pension risk transfer for use in the educational curriculum of the Society of Actuaries. It presents general principles and highlights major differences between Canada and the U.S. from a life insurer's perspective. The focus is on group annuities, which are the most common solution for pension risk transfer."  MORE >>

"Employee demands for improved benefits have coincided with an increase in legislation combatting the elusive retirement crisis. It's particularly pronounced at the state level, with automatic IRA provisions increasingly adopted across the country."  MORE >>

"A survey of leading stakeholders suggests that the prescriptions for increasing saving, implied by [these] findings, depart from those currently prioritized within the industry.... [The authors] propose an alternative model of anxiety-based present focus and delayed optimism that does explain our findings -- and possibly other retirement savings puzzles -- and offers a psychological rationale for reforms that link traditional 401(k) accounts to more liquid accounts designed to relieve near-term anxiety."  MORE >>

"While the overarching goal of prefunding is relatively straightforward -- to assure the payment of all promised benefits -- there are many ways to define minimum funding rules, with a multitude of considerations.... This issue brief presents high-level observations surrounding the current funding rules for single-employer pension plans and notes key considerations and challenges for policymakers when contemplating future legislation."  MORE >>

"Since most of the activity and basic plan operations are outsourced to service providers ... it can be easy to overlook the importance of assessing cybersecurity risks and the potential for cybersecurity breaches impacting employee benefit plans. However, this significant amount of outsourcing elevates cybersecurity risk ... [P]lan sponsors must ensure that plan data is being protected by all parties involved as part of their fiduciary responsibility.."  MORE >>