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| Editor’s Note |
| We want to remind everyone of steps you can take
to ensure you will keep receiving leading industry insight and news via the
NewsDash. Add us to your contacts list, and ask your IT staff to whitelist the
addresses mail2768.assetintl.mkt3164.com and 74.112.71.207. We don’t want you
to miss a thing! |
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| Plan Sponsor of the Year Nominations |
| We are still accepting nominations for the 2015
PLANSPONSOR Plan Sponsor of the Year awards. This is an excellent opportunity
for you to tell your story and share you successes with peers. We are looking
for plans of all types (pension, 401(k), 403(b), 457, public DC, etc) and of
all sizes. The deadline for nominations is November 7. You can nominate a plan,
or yourself, here.Read more > |
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| Benefits & Administration |
| Blended Families Face Savings Challenges |
| Parents who are married or living together with
children from a previous relationship face a challenging financial outlook,
especially when it comes to retirement savings. According to the Allianz
LoveFamilyMoney Study, blended families average only $158,600 in savings and
investable assets, compared with $264,300 for traditional families (those
married to someone of the opposite sex with at least one child younger than 21
living at home). Moreover, a majority (55%) of blended families say they
“currently live paycheck to paycheck,” and nearly one-third (30%) cite one of
their worst financial habits as “not saving any money,” versus 41% and 20%,
respectively, for traditional families.Read more > |
| Improving the retirement plan participant
experience is an important step in addressing the nation’s retirement savings
shortfall, according to Broadridge Research. Broadridge released a new white
paper examining the impact of targeted participant communications programs on
the retirement readiness of three generations in the work force—Baby Boomers,
Generation X and Millennials. The research finds that effective communications
can offer a competitive edge for retirement providers and plan sponsors, but
the costs run high if communications programs aren’t implemented efficiently.Read more > |
| GE Sued for Moving to DC Model for Retiree Health |
| One current and one former General Electric (GE)
employee have sued the company for moving to a defined contribution (DC) model
for retiree health care benefits. According to a lawsuit filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, “By terminating the Plans
for plaintiffs and tens of thousands of other current or retired salaried
employees, GE is in breach of a promise to participants in the summary plan
description (SPD), restated and reaffirmed in July 2012, that GE ‘expects’ and
‘intends’ to continue the GE Medicare Plans ‘indefinitely.’”Read more > |
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| Products, Deals & People |
| Sandy McCarthy has been named benefits
administration leader at Mercer. McCarthy joined Mercer in 2009 as retirement
business leader for its U.S. benefits administration business.Read more > |
| Houston Firm Unveils C-Suite Advice Service |
| Kanaly Trust’s Corporate Executive Financial
Counseling program aims to help with employee retention and with analysis of
company benefit decisions. The program uses a team approach to financial
planning with unbiased, objective advice, without the constraints of a product
sales environment, Drew Kanaly, chairman and president of Kanaly Trust, tells
PLANSPONSOR.Read more > |
| Jeff Passmore has joined investment manager
Barrow, Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC to focus on liability-driven
investing solutions. Passmore has 24 years of industry experience and takes the
role of director, client portfolio manager, and LDI strategist to focus on the
firm’s liability-driven investing (LDI) solutions.Read more > |
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| Economic Events |
| The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of
Commerce announced that construction spending during September 2014 was
estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $950.9 billion, 0.4% below the
revised August estimate of $955.2 billion. The September figure is 2.9% above the
September 2013 estimate of $924.2 billion. During the first nine months of this
year, construction spending amounted to $710.1 billion, 6.1% above the $669.3 billion
for the same period in 2013. |
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| Market Mirror |
| Yesterday,
the Dow slipped 24.28 points (0.14%) to 17,366.24, the NASDAQ was up 8.16
points (0.18%) at 4,638.91, and the S&P 500 decreased by 0.24 (0.01%) to
2,017.81. The Russell 2000 closed 3.30 points (0.28%) lower at 1,170.20, and
the Wilshire 5000 ticked up 3.52 points (0.02%) to 21,260.26.
On the NYSE,
3.3 billion shares traded, with a slight lead for decliners. On the NASDAQ, 2.8
billion shares changed hands, with 1.3 declining issues for every advancing
issue.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note slipped 1/32,
bringing its yield up to 2.341%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was up
3/32, decreasing its yield to 3.063%.
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| Compliance |
| Plan Fiduciaries Liable for Mispriced Stock Purchase |
| The owner of Bruister and Associates and
trustees of its employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) were found responsible
for causing the plan to pay too much for employer stock. A U.S. District Court
judge has issued a judgment and order requiring fiduciaries to pay more than
$6.48 million to the two employee stock ownership plans sponsored by Bruister
and Associates Inc. (BAI).Read more > |
| A Review of PBGC Reportable Events |
| There are certain events that defined benefit
(DB) plan sponsors are required to report to the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) before they happen. The PBGC wants to make sure funding for
DB plans does not deteriorate and tries to catch problems ahead of time by
asking for plans to fill out PBGC Form 10 for reportable events, according to Kurt
Piper, owner and chief actuary of Piper Pension and Profit Sharing. A
reportable event notice must be filed within 30 days of knowledge of the event,
or the plan sponsor could be subject to a penalty of up to $1,100 per day it’s late.Read more > |
| Court Says Plan Can Dictate Where Lawsuits Filed |
| A federal appellate court found that a clause in
a retirement plan document restricting the venue of lawsuits filed against the
plan is enforceable. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled an amicus
brief filed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor was not entitled to deference in
determining whether a district court was correct in dismissing a plan
participant’s lawsuit because it was not filed in the venue dictated by the
plan document. The court found the venue selection clause is not in conflict
with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).Read more > |
|
| Small Talk |
| ON
THIS DATE: In 1846,
a patent for an artificial leg was granted to Benjamin Palmer. In 1847, Scottish obstetrician James Young
Simpson discovered the anethestic qualities of chloroform. In 1880, James and John Ritty patented the
first cash register. In 1922, British
archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discovered a step leading to the
tomb of King Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. In 1939, at the 40th National Automobile
Show the first air-conditioned car was put on display. In 1948, T.S. Eliot won the Nobel Prize in literature, for his
profound effect on the direction of modern poetry. In 1952, in the United States, the National Security Agency (NSA) was
established. In 1978, Anne Murray
earned a No. 1 pop hit with “You Needed Me.” In 2008, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain
of Arizona to become the 44th U.S. president, and the first African American
elected to the White House.
TUESDAY
TRIVIA: George Washington was the first president
elected under the U.S. Constitution, but after the Revolutionary war, John
Hanson was the first president under the Articles of Confederation.
|
| TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Why
do we vote on a Tuesday in November?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 > |
| News from PLANSPONSOR.com
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2014.
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