March 28th, 2025 Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday AWARDS 2025 Plan Sponsor of the Year Finalists Announced PLANSPONSOR is pleased to announce the finalists across two more categories of the 2025 Plan Sponsor of the Year program. Today, find 9 finalists from Total Retirement Offering and Multiple Employer Plans categories. All the finalists are plan sponsors that show an exemplary commitment to their participants’ financial health and retirement success.  Benefits Social Security Administration Clarifies Identity Proofing Requirements The SSA extended, for two weeks, the launch of new identity-proofing requirements and made an exception for those applying for certain services. Most Read Compliance DOL Seeks Final Judgment in Vacating Fiduciary Rule Compliance Trump Account Investment Options Not Yet Clarified Amid Calls for Greater Diversification Investing Private Credit Faces Confidence Test as Concerns Persist ECONOMIC EVENTS In the week ending March 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 224,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 225,000, the Department of Labor reported. The four-week moving average was 224,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 228,750. Interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65% for the week ending March 27, down from last week when it averaged 6.67%, Freddie Mac reported. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.79%. Interest on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.89%, up from last week when it averaged 5.83%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.11%.  MARKET MIRROR Thursday, the Dow fell 155.09 points (0.37%) to close at 42,299.70, the Nasdaq fell 94.98 points (0.53%) to close at 17,804.03 and the S&P 500 fell 18.89 points (0.33%) to close at 5,693.31. The Russell 2000 fell 8.14 points (0.39%) to close at 2,065.70, and the FT Wilshire 5000 Index fell 236.36 points (0.41%) to close at 56,830.25. The 10-year Treasury note decreased 1/32, bringing the yield to 4.371%. The 30-year Treasury bond decreased 6/32, bringing the yield to 4.724%. Opinions DOL Cybersecurity Guidance and Health and Welfare Plan Gaps All benefit plans must follow the U.S. Department of Labor’s cybersecurity guidance, not only retirement plans, writes a partner at Alston & Bird. PRODUCTS Product and Service Launches Financial Finesse and SecureSave announce partnership;  Lincoln Financial expands solutions available in WellnessPATH Marketplace; Pharmacy benefits manager offers “Savings Guarantee,” and more. SMALL TALK ON THIS DATE: In 1930, built as Byzantium about 657 BCE, then renamed Constantinople in the 4th century CE after Constantine the Great made the city his capital, the Turkish city of Istanbul officially received its present name. In 1939, Francisco Franco, leader of the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War, captured the capital city of Madrid en route to his overthrow of the democratic Spanish republic. In 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the U.S., died at age 78. In 1979, at 4:00 a.m. an automatic valve mistakenly closed at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, culminating in radioactive leakage. In 1985, Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker and designer Marc Chagall, whose works were among the first expressions of psychic reality in modern art, died at age 97. In 2004, English filmmaker, writer and humanitarian Sir Peter Ustinov died at age 82. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get NEWSDash directly in your mailbox! Unsubscribe | Manage Subscriptions | Contact Us Copyright ©2026 Asset International, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior authorization. Modern Slavery Statement 2022 | Do Not Sell My Personal Information | Privacy (including cookies), Social Media & Legal 702 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20850