NewsDash – May 17, 2023

May 17th, 2023
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday

Data and Research

Nearly Half of Women Lack Workplace Retirement Plan Access, Survey Shows

Low-income women are most at risk financially, and nearly two-thirds said they are not confident they have the information they need to plan and save for retirement, two surveys found.

COMPLIANCE

Employers View Workforce Well-Being as Key to Strategy

Employers expect to return employee well-being benefits to pre-COVID levels in 2024, bringing back yoga, meditation classes, Fidelity and Business Group Health research shows.

Most Read

Data and Research
Employers Buckle Down on Pharmacy, Medical Costs

Compliance
8th Circuit Tosses Wells Fargo Forfeiture Complaint on Lack of Standing

Compliance
DOL Eases Enforcement of New Rules for Paper Benefit Statements

ECONOMIC EVENTS

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $686.1 billion, an increase of 0.4% from the previous month, and up 1.6% above April 2022, the Census Bureau reported. Total sales for the February through April period were up 3.1% from the same period a year ago. Retail trade sales were up 0.4% from March and up 0.5% from last year. Non-store retailers were up 8.0% from last year, while food services and drinking places were up 9.4% from April 2022.

U.S. total business end-of month inventories for March, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,490.0 billion, down 0.1% from February 2023, but were up 6.5% from March 2022, the Census Bureau reported.

MARKET MIRROR

Tuesday, the Dow fell 336.46 points (1.01%) to close at 33,012.14, the Nasdaq fell 22.16 points (0.18%) to close at 12,343.05 and the S&P 500 fell 26.38 points (0.64%) to close at 4,109.90. The Russell 2000 lost 25.37 points (1.44%) to close at 1,736.18, and the Wilshire 5000 lost 314.99 points (0.77%) to close at 40,503.15.

The 10-year Treasury note rose 1/32, bringing the yield to 3.542%. The 30-year Treasury bond rose 1/32, bringing the yield to 3.858%.

Ask the Experts

How Does SECURE 2.0’s Start-Up Tax Credit Apply to Recently Started Plan?

Experts from Groom Law Group and CAPTRUST answer questions concerning retirement plan administration and regulations.

Compliance

DOL Will Not Appeal 401(k) Rollover Rule, ASA Says

The trade group that sued the DOL says the regulator will not insist that rollover advice should be subject to ERISA.

SURVEYS

2023 Recordkeeping Sub Surveys

Do you provide recordkeeping services for 403(b) plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans and/or SEP/SIMPLE plans? If so, please help us present comprehensive data on those markets. Respond to our surveys by the FINAL deadline of May 23.

SMALL TALK

ON THIS DATE: In 1792, meeting on what is now Wall Street in New York City, 24 businessmen took the initial steps to forming the New York Stock Exchange. In 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and the winning horse was Aristides. In 1900, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published, and it became a classic of children’s literature; the 1939 film adaption is among the most beloved movies in American cinema. In 1954, lawyer Thurgood Marshall scored a landmark victory as the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the lawsuit Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public school was unconstitutional. In 1939, the first televised sporting event in the U.S.—a college baseball game between Princeton and Columbia—aired on NBC. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Megan’s Law, which required law enforcement officials to notify local schools, day care centers and residents of the presence of registered sex offenders in their communities. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage as it began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Industry Intel Roundup—Featured Webinars

PLANSPONSOR is pleased to present the next edition of our Industry Intelligence roundup. This week, we are featuring webinars sponsored by experienced providers in the industry. The content was created to educate, inform and offer ideas for plan sponsors regarding plan design, investing, administration and compliance.

May 19, 2026

Understanding the DOL’s Latest Proposal for Prudent Investment Selection

The Department of Labor has issued a new proposal that could affect how retirement plan fiduciaries evaluate, document, and defend investment decisions. This webinar will provide: • Timely context and practical perspective on the proposal • Insight into what the proposal is intended to clarify • Considerations for how fiduciary processes may be affected • Key questions plan sponsors and committees should be thinking about as the rulemaking process continues

SPONSORED BY: Aon | June 18, 2026

DC Plan Management Under Pressure

Retirement plan risks rarely emerge all at once—they surface through early operational signals that often go unnoticed until issues escalate. As data becomes more abundant yet fragmented, and innovation outpaces traditional oversight frameworks, plan sponsors face growing pressure to ensure their governance, operations, and focus on participant outcomes keep pace. In this webinar, Aon’s Grace Lattyak moderates a practical discussion with Aon colleagues Tamara Langham, Jeff Forman, and Melissa Elbert on whether the way plans operate today is truly fit for today’s environment. The panel will focus on how decisions are made, escalated, monitored, and governed in real time. Drawing on real‑world observations, the discussion will explore where leading sponsors are revisiting committee charters, refining dashboards, clarifying roles, and strengthening vendor oversight to surface risk earlier, improve accountability and support more timely, informed action. Attendees will also hear how subtle breakdowns—missed signals, overloaded agendas, or unclear ownership—can undermine even well‑designed plans. Participants will leave with practical considerations and diagnostic questions to bring back to their committees—focused on strengthening operational discipline, governance effectiveness and resilience before small issues become material. Key Topics Will Include: Governance: Is your governance model still designed for today’s scale, scrutiny, and accountability—or yesterday’s plan? Data: Do you know how to turn data into earlier signals around risk, errors, leakage, and participant engagement? Outcomes: How do you credibly measure progress in participant behavior and decision‑making—not just plan features and participation rates? Innovation: What is best practice for evaluating new tools with clear ownership, monitoring, and guardrails so innovation reduces risk rather than adds complexity?

August 19, 2026

DB Plan Administration

Besides findings from PLANSPONSOR’s annual Defined Benefit Administration Survey, our panel will discuss trends in the defined benefit plan sector. Speakers will also talk about ongoing management of DB plans—whether closed, frozen or active—and benchmarking DB plan providers. With many corporate DB plans now overfunded, the panel will also discuss ways that sponsoring companies can use their plan’s surplus.

November 18, 2026

Understanding Participant Behavior

The PLANSPONSOR Participant Survey examines the attitudes and behaviors of American workers participating—or not—in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. We’ll explore findings about respondents’ participation and saving decisions, retirement expectations and most-valued benefits. Speakers will suggest what the findings mean for retirement plan design, benefit offerings and participant engagement.