"[T]he IRS announced in [Notice 2023-54] that it will finalize proposed regulations [issued in February 2022] for RMDs and that the final regulations will apply no earlier than calendar year 2024. That is an update from Notice 2022-53, when the IRS said that final regulations would apply no earlier than 2023."  MORE >>

"[1] A plan won't violate the rollover rules by failing to treat distributions between January 1 and July 31, 2023 to participants who reach age 72 in 2023 as eligible rollover distributions. [2] The 60-day indirect rollover period for such distributions is extended until September 30, 2023. [3] A defined contribution plan won't violate Code section 401(a)(9) by failing to make a 'specified RMD' to a beneficiary in 2023. [4] The Code section 4974 excise tax won't apply to a beneficiary because the beneficiary failed to take a 'specified RMD' in 2023."  MORE >>

"[S]tarting January 1, 2025, employees must be allowed to make elective deferrals after completion of two consecutive 12-month periods in which they have worked at least 500 hours and attained age 21.... [An] employee working at least 500 hours in 2021, 2022, and 2023 must be permitted to make elective deferrals commencing January 1, 2024.... [It] is unclear under the LTPT eligibility rules whether a 401(k) plan can exclude a class of employees based on other distinctions, such as their location or job classification."  MORE >>

"Relying on a line of Supreme Court decisions holding that claims brought under Section 502(a)(2) are plan claims, and its own analysis that the statute makes the plan, and not the participants and beneficiaries, the entity to which fiduciary duties are owed, the Third Circuit concluded that the plan, and not the participants, was the relevant contracting party." [Berkelhammer v. ADP TotalSource Grp., No. 22-1618 (3d Cir. Jul. 17, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Both reinsurance and risky investment strategies had been identified as common concerns among fiduciaries ... [Other concerns include] the annuity provider’s ownership structure; its administrative experience and track record; and the insurer’s Risk-Based Capital, a ratio calculated by dividing capital by risk-weighted assets. ... [P]rivate credit, asset-backed securities, subordinated debt, real estate and private equity [are] riskier non-traditional assets that are becoming more popular as investments held by annuity providers in their general accounts."  MORE >>

"Pension funds and other institutional investors are planning to increase their allocations to illiquid assets over the next two year to help protect them against rising inflation and interest rates ... 26 per cent were planning to 'dramatically' increase their allocations to illiquid assets.... [T]he primary driver for investing in illiquid assets was the need to protect from macro uncertainty. More than half (52 per cent) said this was the primary motivation for choosing private debt investments ... Over a quarter (29 per cent) stated that the most important feature of private debt assets was that they offer diversification benefits."  MORE >>

"For the financial industry, AI could lead to greater inclusion and improved user experience, the SEC chair said, although he also warned about a slew of risks, such as explainability, bias, conflicts of interest and fraud. The SEC is considering new rules related to when the interests of consumers and AI-powered platforms diverge[.]"  MORE >>

"[T]he Maine Public Employees Retirement System [will] study the creation of an interstate compact with other states affected by the [windfall elimination provision (WEP)] and the [government pension offset (GPO)].... A proposal that Massachusetts create a special commission to examine the effects of the federal WEP and GPO will be the subject of a joint hearing of the commonwealth's House of Representatives and Senate.... The Illinois Senate [adopted] a resolution calling for the repeal of the WEP and the GPO from the Social Security Act."  MORE >>

"The lesson we can learn from Social Security is this: Ignore negative trends in your Funded Status at your own risk, particularly if your Funded Status is less than 100%. Delaying actions to address a plan with a Funded Status less than 100% and decreasing over time will generally require larger changes later to restore the plan's Funded Status to 100%.... Like Social Security, there is no legal or other requirement for households to periodically place their financial systems back into actuarial balance once their Funded Status falls below 100%. For Social Security, this responsibility rests with our policymakers and for households it rests entirely with the household."  MORE >>

"The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and coalition partners ... issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury and the [IRS] requesting transition relief relating to a SECURE 2.0 Act provision requiring that individuals with FICA wages of more than $145,000 in the prior year make any retirement plan catch-up contributions on an after-tax (Roth) basis starting after December 31, 2023."  MORE >>