"As SECURE 2.0 is drafted, both the part-time exclusion and the student-employee exclusion are subject to the LTPT rule.... IRS issued proposed regulations about the LTPT rules for 401(k) plans, but they have not provided clarification for 403(b) plans.... [We] can hope that the IRS will provide more definitive guidance on the intersection of the rules before operational compliance is due next year."  MORE >>

"[T]he Supreme Court [has been] asked to resolve a circuit split concerning what a plaintiff must plead to assert a 'prohibited transaction' under ERISA.... [T]he Court [faces] three [such] petitions at once." [Bugielski v. AT&T Servs., Inc., No. 21-56196 (9th Cir. Nov. 8, 2023; cert pet. filed Apr. 5, 2024); Cunningham v. Cornell Univ., No. 21-0088 (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2023; cert. pet. filed Mar. 13, 2024); D.L. Markham DDS, MSD, Inc. 401(K) Plan v. Variable Annuity Life Ins. Co., No. 22-20540 (5th Cir. Dec. 14, 2023; cert. pet. filed Mar. 18, 2024)]  MORE >>

"The arbitrator and the district court [held] that by remitting contributions for the hauling work, the employer by its conduct effectively amended the CBA to require contributions for the hauling work, and therefore, those contributions were properly included in calculating the employer's withdrawal liability. The Seventh Circuit reversed, explaining that ... 29 U.S.C. Section 1145 requires that any changes regarding the obligation to contribute to an ERISA plan must be in writing." [Bulk Transp. Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024)]   MORE >>

"The court allowed the participants' claims to proceed, holding that there were genuine disputes of material fact as to whether the employer had breached its duties under ERISA by investing its employees' 401(k) savings in underperforming funds for more than a decade and allowing its business relationship with the fund provider to influence the retention." [Snyder v. UnitedHealth Group, No. 21-1049 (D. Minn. Mar. 12, 2024)]  MORE >>

"A 'surplus' management strategy may include contribution adjustments, risk reduction strategies, and benefit enhancements, which are intended to preserve the current plan 'surplus' and/or reduce the risk of future funded status and contribution volatility."  MORE >>

"Wilshire estimates that the aggregate funded ratio was 74.8% at FYE 2023, which represents an 0.4% decrease from FYE 2022. Wilshire's estimate of the aggregate funded ratio as of March 31, 2024 (i.e., the most recent quarter-end as of this publication) is 83.2%. The 8.4% increase from our FYE 2023 measurement stems primarily from strong performance across most asset classes. This rise was notably driven by the FT Wilshire 5000 Index, which saw its best quarterly return in the fourth quarter of 2023 since the fourth quarter of 2020."  MORE >>