| Benefits & Administration | ACA Could Crimp Competitive Benefit Offerings | Call it the law of unintended consequences. The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made it harder for
companies to offer competitive medical benefits, according to Nationwide
Retirement Institute’s small-business survey. Nearly half of the smaller
companies with at least 50 employees (43%) have increased their contributions
to their retirement plans since the implementation of key employer and
individual mandate provisions that took effect under the ACA at the beginning
of 2015. “If the health benefit is less of a competitive benefit package, then
retirement moves to the forefront,” John Carter, president of the retirement
plans business at Nationwide, says. “It’s a clear sign employers are ready to
re-engage with the plan’s features, having discussions with employees so they
really see the benefit of the plan.”Read more > | Wilshire Consulting estimates the aggregate
funded ratio for U.S. corporate pension plans fell by 0.9 percentage points
during March 2014, reaching 81.5% by month’s end. The decrease in funding was
the result of a decrease in asset value versus an increase in liability value,
says Ned McGuire, vice president and member of the pension risk solutions group
of Wilshire Consulting.Read more > | A Plan Sponsor Injects Fun into Employee Wellness | When a new CEO took the helm at Methodist Health
Systems, based in Dallas, Texas, in 2007, he was very focused on wellness and
health. The health system, which self-funds its health benefits, established an
eight-year strategy in 2007 for employee wellness, which included the usual
health risk assessment and biometric screenings. “We had always intended on having
an outcomes- or achievement-based wellness plan design; employees who show they
are healthier pay less in health care premiums,” says Carrie Camin, assistant
vice president of wellness at Methodist Health Systems. She adds that this
requirement established an obligation for Methodist Health Systems to provide
tools and resources for employees to get healthier and focus on lifestyle
behaviors and healthy habits. “To do that, you have to have convenient and fun
programs,” she tells PLANSPONSOR.Read more > |
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| Products, Deals & People | Initiative Seeks to Help Participants Investigate Plans | A former SEC attorney says retirement plan
participant lawsuits don’t benefit anyone, and he has launched a new initiative
designed to hold plan sponsors accountable for their actions.Read more > | Is Auto-Portability the Next Big Thing? | Retirement Clearinghouse (RCH) hopes it newest
service innovation will have as big of an impact on retirement plan participant
outcomes as the introduction of auto-enrollment. In 2007, one of RCH’s clients
asked that a voluntary benefit be put in place for new hires, to help them
automatically roll their money into the plan. “That’s when the lightbulb went
off,” says Spencer Williams, president and CEO of Retirement Clearinghouse.
“Here we are in the business of taking people out of the plan—a mandatory
distribution—what if we set up a system with all the recordkeepers, and instead
of sticking these small balances in a safe harbor IRA [individual retirement
account], what if we went looking for their new 401(k) and automatically rolled
them in?”Read more > | | Economic Events | THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow,
the Census Bureau will report about retail sales for March and business
inventories for February, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the
producer price index (PPI) for March. Thursday,
the Labor Department will issue its initial claims report, and the Census
Bureau will report about housing starts for March. Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the consumer
price index (CPI) for March. | | Market Mirror | Friday, the
Dow climbed 98.92 points (0.55%) to 18,057.65, the NASDAQ was up 21.41 points
(0.43%) at 4,995.98, and the S&P 500 gained 10.88 points (0.52%) to finish
at 2,102.06. The Russell 2000 increased 5.66 points (0.45%) to 1,264.77, and
the Wilshire 5000 closed 103.51 points (0.47%) higher at 22,274.80.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, and on the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares changed hands,
with 1.5 advancing issues for every declining issue on both exchanges.
The price of
the 10 year Treasury note was up 5/32, decreasing its yield to 1.948%. The
price of the 30-year Treasury bond increased 12/32, bringing its yield down to
2.583%.
WEEK’S
WORTH: For the week ending April 10, the Dow closed
1.66% higher, the NASDAQ climbed 2.23%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.70%. The
Russell 2000 was up 0.73%, and the Wilshire 5000 increased 1.50%.
| | Small Talk | ON THIS DATE: In
1743, future President Thomas
Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, was born. In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
was founded in New York City. In 1943,
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial. In 1949, Philip S. Hench and associates
announced that cortizone was an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. In
1964, Sydney Poitier became the first
African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role as a
construction worker who helps build a chapel in “Lilies of the Field” (1963). In
1970, disaster struck 200,000 miles
from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on Apollo 13, the third manned lunar landing mission. In 1976, the U.S. Federal Reserve
introduced $2 bicentennial notes. In 1997,
Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament at the age
of 21. He also set a record when he finished at 18 under par. In 1998, NationsBank and BankAmerica
announced a $62.5 billion merger, creating the country’s first coast-to-coast
bank. | SURVEY SAYS: When the Boss Is Away | Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, how does
your boss being away affect your work? If you are a boss to some employees, how
do you perceive their work productivity when you are out? Forty-two percent of
respondents said when their boss is out of the office, their productivity is
not affected. More than one-third (33.8%) indicated they get more work done,
21.6% said it could go either way and 2.7% reported they get less work done. Among
the bosses responding, half reported that employee productivity is not affected
when they are out, and nearly three in ten (28.6%) said it could go either way.
Most respondents who chose to leave comments explained that they have more
meetings and requests when the boss is in, so they get more done when the boss
is away, and quite a few said they work just as hard either way. One respondent
offered this logic for the survey results: “Falls into two camps – those who
believe they have a ‘job’ and those who have a ‘career’. People with a ‘job’
take advantage; people with a ‘career ‘are not impacted.” Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “I wish my work
disappeared as often as my boss!” Thanks to everyone who responded to our
survey!Read more > | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > | News from PLANSPONSOR.com
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