"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

"the DOL asks for information for participants who (i) have separated from service, (ii) are owed a plan benefit, and (iii) are age 65 or older. Those three criteria are identical to the ability to process a force-out distribution without participant consent. No information needs to be submitted to the Lost and Found Database if you require any participant satisfying these three criteria to take a distribution (including by force-out distribution)."  MORE >>

"SECURE 2.0 exempts several categories of plans from the auto-enrollment mandate. Exempt plans don't have to auto-enroll employees but may do so under terms that differ from SECURE 2.0's mandate for nonexempt plans.... Pre-enactment single-employer plans ... Application of the pre-enactment exemption to MEPs and PEPs ... Other exemptions from the auto-enrollment mandate ... Required auto-enrollment design elements ... Implementing notice simplification for EACAs."  MORE >>

"DOL stopped short of allowing employers and other fiduciaries to fully self-correct in the manner permitted under IRS correction programs which, in many cases, do not require notifying the IRS of the correction or signing a perjury statement. Under DOL's new SCC, the employer, fiduciary or other plan official must sign a perjury statement and electronically notify DOL when self-correction is used. ... DOL rejected proposals to extend the remittance period beyond 180 days or increase or eliminate the $1,000 cap.... DOL also changed the date for calculating lost earnings under SCC."  MORE >>

"In a recent amicus brief ... Aronowitz emphasized the need for the Supreme Court to adopt more robust pleading standards, stating that current claims have transformed voluntary employee benefit programs into potential liabilities for fiduciaries acting in good faith. He said 'ERISA's Most Absurd Case,' as he called the Cunningham case in a Jan 20 blog post, is about the future of ERISA litigation ... Aronowitz went on to note that approximately 485 out of 1,350, or 36%, of large plans in America have been sued for alleged excessive fees in the last eight years."  MORE >>

"88% of plan sponsors think offering personalized solutions will improve retirement outcomes and 75% believe improved retirement outcomes will improve business outcomes. There is also a strong belief among plan sponsors that participants should have portfolios that are aligned with their unique situations and that they have a good understanding of the investment options available to them. Yet, despite the strong interest in personalization, managed accounts are still not widely available."  MORE >>

"An eventful year for target date funds resulted in overall target date asset growth of 15% in 2024, reaching $3.97 trillion as of year-end.... Fourteen out of 15 target date series introduced in 2024 utilize CITs instead of mutual funds.... [A]sset-weighted expenses for the average MF-based active series fell to 53.3 basis points (BPs) from 54.9 at the end of 2023. Hybrid series slipped from 39.9 BPs to 39.1, while passive target dates dipped slightly from 8.9 to 8.7 BPs."  MORE >>

"In calendar year 2024, the median public DB plan gained 10.0%, well in excess of the average expected return of 7.25%. This marked the fifth time in six calendar years in which the median public pension plan's return reached double digits."  MORE >>

"[S]tate pensions across the nation are poised to gamble -- and very possibly lose -- ten percent or more of the money they hold in trust for state employees on a worthless 'asset' commonly referred to as cryptocurrency. Pension stakeholders, including workers and retirees whose retirement security is at risk -- as well as taxpayers -- need to understand what's at stake."  MORE >>