"This transitional relief may be an indication that the IRS is not considering modifying its position on the timing of distributions during the 10-year period with respect to the death of an employee, IRA owner, or eligible designated beneficiary, or it may simply be a recognition by the IRS that taxpayers did not anticipate the IRS's taking the position it adopted in the proposed regulations."  MORE >>

"Although the Court declined to impose ERISA's fiduciary obligations onto TIAA, the decision proved informative. First, the plaintiffs' bar is targeting service providers, and potentially plan sponsors, for representations and fees relating to rollovers. Second, much of the Court's reasoning was based on whether to apply retroactive effect to current DOL guidance, and had that guidance applied, the outcome may have been different." [Carfora v. Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, and TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, No. 21-8384 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 27, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Around 41% of U.S. retirement accounts' mutual fund investments are in funds focused on U.S. stocks, and another 40% is held in hybrid funds and bond funds.... [T]his home bias had actually helped U.S. advisors in the recent past, because companies in the U.S. have delivered a good return. But ... the same strategies that helped U.S. investors over the past decade are now harming them."  MORE >>

"Estimated competitive retiree buyout cost, as a percentage of accounting liability, increased by 320 bps from 96.9% to 100.1% during September"  MORE >>

"Market volatility is contributing to record sales of retail annuities. But in-plan annuities to provide guaranteed income in retirement are mostly still on the horizon due to lack of product maturity and adviser hesitancy."  MORE >>

"In ESOP cases, at the pleading stage, courts should be forcefully petitioned to conduct the context-specific inquiry into a complaint's allegations that Congress intended, ERISA demands, and the Supreme Court has required.... [C]ourts should be provided education materials to help them understand precisely what ESOPs are, and what they are not, because the character and aims of an ESOP are vital to understanding the scope of an ESOP fiduciary's fiduciary obligations."  MORE >>

"There are some clues sprinkled throughout the preamble that shed some light on the underlying biases that seem to be driving the DOL's efforts. An examination of these clues reveals, however, that the DOL's 'solutions' are likely unwarranted; there is nothing so broken as to require such a radical fix."  MORE >>

14 page.s "With respect to both the notice and comment period requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and its expansive reading of the substance-over-form doctrine, the IRS has suffered appellate court losses with respect to employee benefit plans in recent years. Situations in which these types of challenges can be made are not a staple feature of the employee benefits practice of most practitioners, but in a situation in which it appears IRS may have exceeded its authority, it is important to know the types of procedural and substantive challenges to IRS actions that can be successfully advanced."  MORE >>