Magazine Articles

For QDIAs, no news is good news, though changes loom.

 Measured against most public funds’ investment returns, the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) had a great year in tumultuous 2008. The fund lost only 1.3%, recalls David Gavia,...

 Standouts from the 403(b)/nonprofit, public, and corporate sectors

The same old thing was not going to work into the future,” says Punam Mathur, Vice President, Human Resources, at NV Energy, Inc. “The times are changing.”

 As part of a plan revamp intro­duced in January 2008, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific started matching 100% of an employee’s deferral, up to 6% of pay. The...

 How does whole­sale insurer John­son & Johnson, Inc., achieve a 90% 401(k) participation rate without automatic enrollment? As a small company of just 140 employees, it facilitates a...

Financial crisis triggers additional scrutiny of target-date offerings  

"We were big into fee disclosure before it really became an issue,” says Keith Overly, Executive Director of the Ohio Public Employees Deferred ­Compensation Program. “We think it...

 “Especially in this market, risk became such a big issue for people,” says Ed Derman, Deputy CEO of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. For risk-focused 457 participants,...

 Though she says the success of Legacy Health Systems’ 403(b) program has little to do with her and is a collaboration of nine team members, as well as...

 For New Jersey’s state deferred compensation plan, “the emphasis for the longest time was on, ‘Let’s keep the costs down,’” says Joseph Zisa, Chief of the Bureau of...

 Perhaps one of the greatest testaments to the work Mary Shinick, Vice President, Human Resources, Nyack Hospital, and her team have done to shore up the hospital’s retirement...

 Champlain College, founded in 1878, is located in the Hill Section of Burlington, Vermont, overlooking Lake Champlain. Just as impressive as that view is the college’s 403(b) plan,...

Being the Vice President for Financial­ Affairs, Jack Armul at the Florida Institute of Technology says he would consider himself a “bean counter” more than an educator, but...

We all have them: those front-line experiences that are inevitable when one deals with the variety—and sensitivity—of issues associated with human beings and critical life events. Sometimes those...

In late January, the Obama Administration renewed its support for a variety of initiatives designed to improve/enhance retirement programs.

Each month, Bells & Whistles highlights recent product introductions that plan sponsors­ may find of interest. More information on these announcements can be found on www.plansponsor.com. If you...

Gerald George, et al., v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc., et al., Case 1:07-cv-01713

Similarities between the health-care debate and the retirement-income debate

Negotiating the fiduciary delegation minefield