69 pages; Mar. 12, 2024. "What's New: [1] Qualified tuition program rollover to a Roth IRA.... [2] Distributions to victims of domestic abuse.... [3] Excise tax relief for certain 2023 required minimum distributions."  MORE >>

33 presentation slides. "The essence of the DOL's fiduciary proposals and their impact on distribution of annuities is found in: [1] The DOL's Fiduciary Proposals and the Impact on Recommendations of Annuities Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary; [2] Proposed Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02; [3] Proposed Amendment to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24."  MORE >>

"The lawsuits come at a time when plan sponsors, due to a range of factors including the relatively favorable interest rate environment, have an increased interest in de-risking activities ... [T]he industry awaits an overdue report from the [DOL] to Congress on existing guidance on fiduciary duties under [ERISA] when selecting an annuity provider that may preview changes to that guidance.... [T]he outcome of these cases and the report to Congress could have far-reaching implications for sponsors and plan fiduciaries engaging in PRTs." [[Piercy v. AT&T Inc., No. 24-10608 (D. Mass. complaint filed Mar. 11, 2024); Konya et al. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 24-0750 (D. Md. complaint filed Mar. 13, 2024)]  MORE >>

"This is the second major lawsuit this week related to a plan sponsor's choice of Athene to conduct a PRT.... The lawsuit ... alleges that the choice of Athene was not compliant with the [DOL's] Interpretive Bulletin 95-1, which mandates that plan sponsors must 'take steps calculated to obtain the safest annuity available, unless under the circumstances it would be in the interest of participants and beneficiaries to do otherwise.' " [Konya et al. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 24-0750 (D. Md. complaint filed Mar. 13, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[An] issue raised in the appeal was the arguably contradictory jury results that a breach had occurred, but no damages resulted. Also questioned was the jury's assessment that a prudent fiduciary COULD have made the same decisions, whereas the plaintiffs argued that the correct standard was that a prudent fiduciary WOULD have made those decisions." [Vellali v. Yale Univ., No. 16-1345 (D. Conn. Jun. 28, 2023; on appeal to 2d Cir. No. 23-1082, response brief filed Mar. 8, 2024)]  MORE >>

"The 'actuarial equivalence' cases allege that plan sponsors or fiduciaries violate ERISA by adopting unreasonable actuarial assumptions.... [P]lan sponsors have responded that ERISA does not prescribe any kind of reasonableness requirement when mandating that actuarial assumptions be used.... Courts are split on the issues."  MORE >>

"For retirement plan recordkeepers, the past few years have marked a significant transformation, set in motion by the dual forces of consolidation and the unyielding quest for innovation and scale. As the number of recordkeepers dwindles, those that remain are redefining what it means to be a recordkeeper in today's market.... These changes signal a new era for retirement plan sponsors and participants, one where the choice of a recordkeeper goes beyond basic recordkeeping to include a broad spectrum of financial wellness, technology, and personalized advice solutions."  MORE >>

"Retirement plans that include multiple employers have continued to grow in assets, but the growth of assets necessary to reach the critical size where economies of scale can be achieved may take years. The forecasted cost savings to plan sponsors of joining a pooled employer plan over using a single employer plan may not materialize, depending on the sponsor's pooled plan provider.... Boston College researchers provided [a] breakdown of the fees that should be considered[.]"  MORE >>

"The outlook for plan sponsors appears promising for plan sponsors as interest rates, market activity, and pension funding improved this last month. Annuity purchase cost for retiree placements completed by October Three Annuity Services was on average 101.2% of the pension accounting value."  MORE >>

"This study investigates how the timing of taxes on retirement savings affects spending.... [The authors] find that deferred-tax account holders consume savings faster than currently taxed account holders with equal after-tax spending power. Further, given equivalent nominal balances, deferred-tax and currently taxed account holders spend nominally equivalent amounts on goods, despite deferred-tax account holders needing to pay taxes on withdrawals. This finding suggests deferred-tax account holders under-adjust for taxes and, therefore, consume their wealth faster."  MORE >>

"[B]est practice items committees should consider annually: [1] Review the committee charter.... [2] Schedule fiduciary training.... [3] Consider establishing a committee for your health and welfare programs.... [4] Schedule regular committee meetings and document the process.... [5] Review the fiduciary liability insurance policy."  MORE >>

23 pages. "Notwithstanding the absence of an express statutory mandate, federal courts have created and uniformly apply a 'very important' judicially created exhaustion requirement under ERISA, ... a requirement that 'finds its genesis' in ERISA Section 503. Consistent with that genesis, exhaustion of administrative remedies does not extend to the seeking of external review."  MORE >>