"The new rule maintains the provision that a QPAM can be disqualified for 10 years if the QPAM, an affiliate or 'five percent or more owners' of the QPAM engage in conduct leading to a criminal conviction. It also adds foreign convictions and domestic non-prosecution agreements to the sorts of misconduct that can lead to a disqualification.... QPAMs already convicted will be required by DOL to indemnify any plans they work with."  MORE >>

"The court was highly critical of BP ... ruled that BP violated its fiduciary duties under ERISA ... [and] found that BP continued to mislead employees even after they became suspicious.... [T]he court ruled that fiduciary breach claims do not require exhaustion, and in any event BP's rejection of the ombudsman's report demonstrated that any such exhaustion would have been futile.... In the end, the court decisively ruled that plaintiffs were entitled to equitable relief ... because of BP's numerous procedural and fiduciary failures." [Guenther v. BP Retirement Accumulation Plan, No. 16-0995 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 28, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[Q]ualified non-governmental plans generally don't have to be amended for SECURE 2.0 changes until December 31, 2026. However, many of the changes permitted or required by SECURE 2.0 are currently effective ... As a result, for several years, there may be a disconnect between the written terms of the plan and how the plan actually operates.... [W]hat should be included in the plan's summary plan description (SPD) -- just the written terms of the plan, or how the plan is being operated and administered?"  MORE >>

"[A]lthough employees seek more retirement-income options, more employers are not offering them ... [P]erceptions of complexity and cost seem to cause the most concern about these solutions and whether they heighten fiduciary/litigation risk."  MORE >>

40 pages. "This report provides an overview of pension investment issues across state and local pensions, federal pensions (with a focus on TSP), private sector pension plans, and IRAs. For each of these types of pensions or retirement accounts, this report explains relevant federal authorities (if any), relevant federal oversight (if any), and administrative issues.... This report also identifies and synthesizes key pension investment issues for Congress, many of which have received regulatory and congressional responses or have involved legislative activity in the 118th Congress." [R47996 Apr. 3, 2024]  MORE >>

"Compared to static withdrawal strategies, this approach not only provides an explicit plan for adjustments to keep retirees from spending too much or too little, but also gives retired clients an idea of what spending changes they would need to make if a market downturn were to occur. Nonetheless, Guyton-Klinger guardrails have several serious shortcomings"  MORE >>

"A plan with a 100% probability of success does not have a 100% chance of providing the best life possible. Instead, it means that in every single simulated scenario in a Monte Carlo analysis the clients could actually spend more and still hit all of their other goals, including not running out of money. In other words, that 100% score means there is a 100% chance that this plan is underspending the clients' resources. The word 'success' here doesn't mean 'winning at the game of retirement.' It means underspending,"  MORE >>

"It would be logical to conclude that DOL 4.0 has left agents little hope of remaining viable. But the exact opposite is true. Insurance agents have an enormously important contribution to make to their client's retirement security, and in a way that investment advisers and financial planners typically overlook."  MORE >>

"[T]he 221st open meeting of the [ERISA Advisory Council] will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.... The meeting will take place at the [DOL offices in Washington DC]. The meeting will also be accessible via teleconference and some participants, as well as members of the public, may elect to attend virtually.  ... The purpose of the open meeting is to set the topics to be addressed by the Council in 2024. Also, the ERISA Advisory Council members will receive an update from leadership of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)."  MORE >>