Magazine Articles

Table of Contents |March 1998

Planning ahead

The IRS loosens the rules for plan sponsors who prefer to determine 401(k) contributions in advance for highly compensated employees
Table of Contents |March 1998

Public Servant

David Strauss Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Table of Contents |March 1998

The Horror, The Horror

Form 5500, the plan sponsor's equivalent of a tax return and just as scary is being reinvented. But will the new document and processing system really be a...
Table of Contents |March 1998

From too much disclosure to too little?

The 5500 redesign proposal would remove some financial information that helped an enterprising reporter to uncover a pattern of questionable investments by an IBEW pension fund
Table of Contents |March 1998

The Mortgage Store

New York City's pension funds have made a profitable business of mortgage lending for local low income housing projects. Now, competition is pushing the funds to widen their...
Table of Contents |March 1998

Visual Aids

Videotapes that teach the investment basics are popping up in VCRs everywhere. But some are better than others. Here's how to tell the helpful tapes from the timewasters
Table of Contents |March 1998

Surfing the Web in Saftey

Vanguard Institutional Investment Group administers Science Applications International Corporation's $1.8 billion defined contribution plan.
Table of Contents |March 1998

Managing Transition Costs

Plan sponsors, large and small, are growing increasingly conscious of the costs, both direct and indirect, that are associated with terminating fund managers and re-investing portfolios.
Table of Contents |March 1998

Fair Weather Friends

Catastrophe bonds are more dependent on the greenhouse effect than Greenspan
Table of Contents |March 1998

Losing the Middleman

Why the Methodists 403(b) plan insists on a manager with internal crossing capability
Table of Contents |March 1998

Clinton’s New Deal

SMART plan for small employers draws some praise, while critics attack life insurance tax
Table of Contents |March 1998

Streamlining 5500

Tax season is upon us again, and for employers that sponsor pension plans, the burden is all the heavier because of Form 5500.
Table of Contents |March 1998

Desktop investors

Almost anything plan participants want to know about their accounts is now available online, plus transaction capabilities. Increasingly, plan sponsors feel comfortable with the change
Table of Contents |March 1998

Let 1,000 Bond Funds Bloom

New-style fixed income strategies get a look, but emphasis stays on equity
Table of Contents |March 1998

Disability Dilemma

How to keep defined contribution plans working when employees can no longer contribute
Table of Contents |March 1998

Young and mobile

Cognizant Corporation retailors its employee benefits plans for more mobile workers