NewsDash – July 22, 2020

July 22nd, 2020
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday

Administration

Frozen DB Plans Still Require Much Attention

There is nearly as much work to do when a DB plan is frozen as when it’s open, and ignoring it could come at great cost.

Data and Research

Increase in Financial Wellness Programs Linked to Pandemic Concerns

As workers figure out how COVID-19 will impact their finances, more plan sponsors are adding and growing financial well-being incentives.

Most Read

Benefits
Phased Retirement Programs Offer Perks for Employees and Employers

2020 Recordkeeping Survey

Compliance
VALIC Financial Advisors Charged With Disclosure Failures

Ask the Experts

Did DOL Guidance Permit Private Equity Investments in 403(b)s and 457(b)s?

“I was reading about some recent guidance from the Department of Labor permitting private equity investment in 401(k) plans. Would that apply to 403(b) and 457(b) plans as well? And how does it work?”

Market Mirror

Tuesday, the Dow closed 159.53 points (0.60%) higher at 26,840.40, the NASDAQ fell 86.73 points (0.81%) to 10,680.36, and the S&P 500 was up 5.46 points (0.17%) at 3,257.30. The Russell 2000 gained 14.19 points (0.96%) to finish at 1,487.51, and the Wilshire 5000 increased 53.97 points (0.16%) to 33,372.85.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was virtually unchanged, with its yield at 0.613%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was down 1/32, bringing its yield up to 1.311%.

Compliance

Koch Industries Charged With Excessive Recordkeeping Fees

The plaintiffs suggest the firm’s fiduciary failures were either from lack of a prudent process or from interest in getting discounts from the recordkeeper on other services.

Parties Bow Out of Case Challenging DB Plan Calculations

The case against American Airlines is one of several alleging that the use of outdated mortality tables in determining DB plan benefits violates ERISA.

Senator Portman Presses Congress on Multiemployer Plan Reform

In an opinion piece, the senator offers three principles he believes bipartisan efforts should follow to solve the union pension crisis.

Investing

Doll Foresees Deepest Recession Since World War II

But the chief equity strategist at Nuveen expects it to be short-lived.

Small Talk

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many employees with no experience working remotely have had to adapt to doing so. One-third of respondents to one survey reported working more than usual while working from home, with difficulty keeping boundaries between work and personal life cited as the main reason. However, another survey suggests many employees find “windowed work” has helped them manage work/life balance.

ON THIS DATE: In 1926, Babe Ruth caught a baseball at Mitchell Field in New York that had been dropped from an airplane flying at 250 feet. In 1933, American aviator Wiley Post returned to Floyd Bennett Field in New York, having flown solo around the world in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes. He was the first aviator to accomplish the feat. In 1934, outside Chicago’s Biograph Theatre, notorious criminal John Dillinger—America’s “Public Enemy No. 1″—was killed in a hail of bullets fired by federal agents. In 1941, plans for the Pentagon were presented to the House Subcommittee on Appropriations. In 2000, astronomers at the University of Arizona announced that they had found a 17th moon orbiting Jupiter. In 2004, the September 11 commission’s final report was released. The 575-page report concluded that hijackers exploited “deep institutional failings within our government.” In 2009, the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds, occurred over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: “Order and simplification are the first steps toward the mastery of a subject.”—Thomas Mann, German novelist and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate

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