| | Employer Actions Keeping Health Cost Increases Down | | Employers project their health care benefits
costs will increase 6.0% in 2016, the same increase employers would have
experienced this year had they made no changes to their plan design. However,
many employers expect to keep increases to 5% for the third consecutive year by
making plan changes, such as increasing cost-sharing provisions, adopting
consumer-directed health plans, and expanding wellness initiatives, according
to an annual survey released by the National Business Group on Health.Read more > | | | Products, Deals & People | | FIS, a provider of banking and payments
technology solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SunGard, a
provider of financial software, including retirement plan recordkeeping
systems.Read more > | | TIAA-CREF launched the TIAA-CREF Short-Term Bond
Index Fund, a passively managed, short-duration fixed income mutual fund. In
addition, the company has launched the TIAA-CREF Social Choice International
Equity Fund and TIAA-CREF Social Choice Low Carbon Equity Fund, mutual funds
that incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria as part of
their security selection process.Read more > | | | Market Mirror | Another
weakening of China’s currency sent U.S. markets sharply lower during Wednesday’s
trading, but indexes recovered nearly all the ground they lost by the end of
the day, according to the Associated Press. The Dow was virtually unchanged at
17,402.51, the NASDAQ closed 7.60 points (0.15%) higher at 5,044.39, and the
S&P 500 increased by 1.98 points (0.10%) to 2,086.05. The Russell 2000
slipped 2.16 points (0.18%) to 1,208.98, and the Wilshire 5000 ticked up 17.65
points (0.08%) to 21,946.15.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, with a slight lead for decliners. On the NASDAQ,
nearly 2.8 billion shares changed hands, with 1.3 declining issues for every
advancing issue.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note slipped 2/32,
increasing its yield to 2.148%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
decreased 19/32, bringing its yield up to 2.839%.
| | | Compliance | | DOL Stands Firm on Fiduciary Rule Change | | Department of Labor (DOL) officials have heard
plenty of reasons why the fiduciary rulemaking effort is flawed in the eyes of
the investment service providers it’s meant to regulate—but that doesn’t mean
the DOL is about to capitulate on its long-running plan to strengthen the fiduciary
standard. Despite a torrent of negative comments about the proposed rule
changes aired during the first three days of public hearings called in
Washington, D.C., Labor Secretary Thomas Perez seemed to double down on the
rulemaking effort this week. A letter from Perez surfaced online that appears
to reject outright an earlier call from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers to
halt or slow the new fiduciary rule’s adoption. The DOL remains fully committed
to an updated fiduciary standard, Perez explains.Read more > | | The American Federation of Musicians and
Employers’ Pension Fund, or AFM Pension Fund, says it is suing Atlantic
Recording Corporation, Hollywood Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal
Music Group Recordings and Warner Brothers Records for failure to meet pension
fund contribution obligations.Read more > | | Form 5500 Extension Extended | | The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health
Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 extends the maximum extension deadline for
the returns of employee benefit plans filing Form 5500. Also extended is a
provision in prior pension reform allowing over-funded pensions to use their
excesses to fund retiree health and life insurance benefits.Read more > | | | From the Magazine | | Transitioning from a DB to a DC Plan | | Over the past decade or so, falling funded
levels, increased reporting and accounting regulations, and greater costs have
led many defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors to close, freeze or terminate their
plans and move to a defined contribution (DC)-only retirement offering. Plan
sponsors may have good business reasons for doing so, but unfortunately
participants often fail to see that change as positive. The best approach is
one that manages participant expectations.Read more > | | The Meaning of Tibble | | What is the meaning of Tibble v. Edison International for plan sponsors? To answer that,
we need to ask, which Tibble decision are we talking about? There are decisions
from three different courts—the Supreme Court, the trial court and the court of
appeals.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In
1889, a patent for a coin-operated
telephone was issued to William Gray. In 1931,
the first community hospital in the U.S. was dedicated in Elk City, Oklahoma. In
1934, Al Capp’s comic strip
“L’il Abner” made its debut in newspapers. In 1942, Walt Disney’s “Bambi” opened at Radio City Music
Hall in New York City. | | SURVEY SAYS: I
know a person who is stuck in the 80s. You may know someone like this—clothes,
hairstyle and music all from a prior decade, and no clue about current popular
shows or artists and current slang. This week, I’d like to know, are you stuck
in a prior decade? I’m also wondering how many of you feel younger than you
are. You may respond to this week’s survey by 6 p.m. Pacific time today.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 > |
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