Newsdash Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy from PLANSPONSOR
December 29th, 2014
Benefits & Administration
A new research report suggests public school teachers would not choose a DC retirement plan over a DB retirement plan without powerful incentives. The National Institute for Retirement Security (NIRS) examined the retirement benefit elections of teachers in two states when new teachers had a choice between a DB plan or a plan that combines a defined contribution DC individual account with a DB pension.Read more >
Feasibility of HSAs As Retirement Savings Strategy
Recent reports have claimed health savings accounts (HSAs) can be a useful additional tool for retirement saving. But, how feasible is it that employees can accumulate savings in HSAs to use in retirement, and should employers consider offering them?Read more >
Ongoing fiduciary responsibility and spending money on former employees are two reasons to consider amending a plan to include automated rollovers, according to Millennium Trust. Retirement plan sponsors should consider several factors when deciding to include a provision for rollovers, says Terry Dunne, senior vice president and managing director of the rollover solutions group at Millennium Trust.Read more >
Products, Deals & People
John Hancock Acquires New York Life RPS
Manulife Financial Corporation announced that its U.S. Division, John Hancock Financial, and New York Life have entered into an agreement under which John Hancock will acquire New York Life’s Retirement Plan Services (RPS) business. Peter Gordon, SVP and president of John Hancock RPS, told PLANSPONSOR that the deal reflects two companies viewing the same business in two ways. “We are very interested in retirement plans and wealth management, so we want to expand our RPS business as a way to fulfill our strategic goals. New York Life has concluded they want to focus on their core insurance and wealth management business.”Read more >
From the Magazine
Saxon Angle: Missing Participants
Issues involving so-called “missing” participants will not go away anytime in the near future. On August 14, the Department of Labor (DOL) released Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2014-01, which provides additional guidance to plan fiduciaries of terminated defined contribution (DC) plans with regard to missing participants. Plan fiduciaries often find themselves in a quandary because they are required by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to seek affirmative direction regarding the distribution of a terminating plan’s participant accounts, yet they may be unable to locate some of the participants from whom such direction is sought. The DOL issued the new FAB in order to update and supersede earlier guidance.Read more >
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