"For DC plans with participant direction of investments, the benefit statements with illustrations must be provided for the second calendar quarter of 2022, which ends June 30, 2022.... The due date is the same regardless of the plan's plan year.... For DC plans without participant direction of investments, the benefit statement with illustrations must be provided at the same time the Form 5500 annual report is due (including extensions)."  MORE >>

"The court explained that merely offering actively managed funds in its mix of investment options is not by itself an imprudent act.... [The plaintiff] pointed to another investment that performed better in a five-year snapshot of the lifespan of the fund but this does not suffice to plead an imprudent decision. If so, it would mean that every actively managed fund with below-average results over the most recent five-year period would create an ERISA violation." [Smith v. CommonSpirit Health, No. 22-5964 (6th Cir. Jun. 21, 2022)]  MORE >>

"The court recognized that actively managed funds cost more than passively managed funds, but that fact alone does not make active funds imprudent.... The court rejected the recordkeeping claims, too. Plausibly pleading an excessive fee claim, the court explained, requires 'context,' including allegations that 'the services that [the plan]'s fee covers are equivalent to those provided by' comparator plans and 'excessive relative to the services rendered.' " [Smith v. CommonSpirit Health, No. 22-5964 (6th Cir. Jun. 21, 2022)]  MORE >>

"[A] considerable percentage of workers (71%) said their key goal in retirement is 'maintaining my standard of living,' while less than half (44%) cited splurging periodically in retirement as a priority. The biggest concerns workers say they have in retirement, in order, are maintaining a healthy lifestyle, enduring market losses, outliving savings, and meeting daily expenses."  MORE >>

"[PBGC] has approved the application submitted to the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program by the Local Union No. 466 Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers Pension Plan. The plan, based in Menands, New York, covers 45 participants in the construction industry. The Painters Local 466 Plan became insolvent in November 2020.... The plan will receive $5.4 million in SFA, including interest to the expected date of payment to the plan."  MORE >>

"[T]he competitive bidding process is estimated to save plan sponsors on average around 3.9% as of May 31.... During May 2022, average accounting discount rates increased by one basis point (bps), while competitive annuity purchase rates decreased by 11 bps. This caused the estimated competitive retiree buyout cost as a percentage of accounting liability to increase from 97.7% to 98.6%."  MORE >>

"[T]he ongoing kerfuffle over offering crypto in the investment menus of 401(k) plans is seeming more and more to be simply 'sound and fury, signifying nothing.'... Certainly, there are always going to be people who want to be able to make big, bold bets in their 401(k) plans, but just like most employees learned not to overweight their holdings towards their employer's stock, so too is it likely that most [participants] will not want to incur the risk of this type of investment.... So who will be liable for imprudent crypto investment options?"  MORE >>

"The DOL's cybersecurity investigation into Alight Solutions, LLC, a retirement plan recordkeeper, has queued up court rulings on the reach of the DOL's subpoena power that may have important implications for ERISA plan sponsors and their respective recordkeepers and service providers moving forward." [Walsh v. Alight Solutions, LLC, No. 20-2138 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 28, 2021; on appeal to 7th Cir.)]  MORE >>