"The fourth quarter 2023 interest assumptions will be 5.06 percent for the first 20 years following the valuation date and 4.37 percent thereafter. In comparison with the interest assumptions in effect for the third quarter of 2023, these interest assumptions represent no change in the select period (the period during which the select rate (the initial rate) applies), a decrease of 0.18 percent in the select rate, and a decrease of 0.21 percent in the ultimate rate (the final rate)."  MORE >>

"During a merger or acquisition, careful attention must be paid to the seller’s retirement plan(s) to ensure there are no issues after the transaction. With proper planning, there can be a smooth transition with minimal impact on the employees."  MORE >>

"The quality of ESG data remains a major headache for investors as they try to incorporate sustainability issues into their decision-making ... [This poll of] investors, covering asset owners and managers, hedge funds and private equity firms, finds that 71 percent view 'inconsistent and incomplete' data as the biggest barrier to ESG investing. Data issues rank ahead of other challenges, such as greenwashing (cited by 61 percent of respondents) and reconciling ESG investing with fiduciary duties (53 percent)."  MORE >>

"Hundreds of wealth management firms are sold every year, mostly to other wealth managers. Large ones have occasionally raised capital from, or been acquired by, traditional private equity firms, insurance companies and family offices. A direct investment from a pension fund is rare but now it's happened at least twice this year."  MORE >>

"Overall, 29 percent of 401(k) participants in the sample had an outstanding loan at some point in the five years analyzed, compared with 18 percent at year-end 2016 ... among participants in their 20s at year-end 2016, 7 percent had outstanding loans at year-end 2016. However, when the five years analyzed are considered altogether, 21 percent of participants in their 20s had taken out plan loans.... New loans tended to be modest relative to account balances and decreased over time."  MORE >>

"The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans worsened by $4 billion during August ... Asset losses outweighed liability gains, which dropped the funding surplus to $43 billion. Pension liabilities fell due to an increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value those liabilities. As of August 31, the funded ratio declined to 103.3% from 103.6% at the end of July."  MORE >>

"By the end of 2022, combined assets of the world's top 300 pension funds had decreased by 12.9% and now total $20.6 trillion compared with $23.6 trillion at the end of 2021.... The latest drop [is] greater than the 12.6% decline in 2008, at the time of the global financial crisis. Until now, the 2008 fall had been the fastest annual decline recorded in the 20 years of the study."  MORE >>

"The [403bwise website] has an abundance of educational posts, a related podcast and, most recently, a growing database of school districts' plans. Each plan gets a grade, and the investment providers in the plan also have traffic-light-style ratings. Of the roughly 13,500 school districts in the U.S., 403bwise has ratings for more than a third, with data covering over half of the country's teachers[.]"  MORE >>

"[This study uses] data from the Understanding America Study (UAS) to measure how people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds view various retirement planning information sources, in terms of accessibility, understandability, accuracy, and usefulness. Exploring these perceptions may help identify opportunities to disseminate information in a way that reduces disparities in OASI program knowledge."  MORE >>

"This post explores financial goal-setting including the benefits of having goals, SMART goals, sequential and concurrent goal-setting, the cost of delayed savings for financial goals, and how to save for multiple goals. It also summarizes research about financial decision-making and the value of goals-based financial planning, as well as three 'need to know' facts and six take-away action steps."  MORE >>

"[PBGC] has approved the application submitted to the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program by the Plasterers and Cement Masons Local No. 94 Pension Fund. The plan, based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, covers 108 participants in the construction industry. On May 1, 2019, the [Plan] implemented a benefit suspension under [MPRA] and was partitioned into two plans.... PBGC's approval ... rescinds the partition and enables the plan to restore all benefits suspended under the terms of MPRA[.]"  MORE >>

37 pages. "The panel's decision renders standard and ubiquitous contracts in American retirement plans presumptively unlawful.... The panel's decision will open the floodgates to speculative recordkeeping claims.... Allowing claims that all re-negotiations of service provider agreements are prohibited transactions unless proven otherwise will have far-reaching negative consequences for plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and participants.... The panel's interpretation of ERISA's text did not consider the entirety of Section 406." [Bugielski v. AT&T Servs., Inc., No. 21-56196 (9th Cir. Aug. 4, 2023; pet. for rehearing filed Sep. 1, 2023)]  MORE >>