|
| Editor’s Note |
| In a recent article, “Self-Funding Health
Benefits Another Cost-Saving Strategy,” we stated that self-insured plans are not
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans. The sentence should have
said self-insured plans are Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
plans. We apologize for the confusion.Read more > |
|
| Retirement Plan Sponsors and Advisers of the Year |
| Looking for Award-Worthy Plan Sponsors! |
| Is your company’s retirement plan run
exceptionally well? Is your pension plan well-funded and/or pursuing
interesting strategies (whether active or frozen)? Is your defined contribution
(DC) plan committee focused on fulfilling fiduciary requirements and achieving
successful outcomes for participants? We are now 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. You can nominate a plan, or yourself, here.Read more > |
| Nominations Open for Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year |
| Has your plan been improved by the help of a
skilled professional? Has an adviser or consultant helped with defined benefit
(DB) plan funding or plan maintenance? What about helping design a defined
contribution (DC) plan to improve focus on fulfilling fiduciary requirements
and achieving successful outcomes for participants? If you know a superb
retirement plan adviser you think is worthy of the 2015 PLANSPONSOR Retirement
Plan of the Year awards, please nominate him or her! Nominations can be made
here.Read more > |
|
| Benefit Briefs |
| Data from 2012 Form 5500 filings of retirement
plans provides evidence of the increasing coverage of employees by defined
contribution (DC) rather than defined benefit (DB) plans. The number of DB
plans slipped in 2012, by 3.4%, according to “Private Pension Plan Bulletin
Abstract of 2012 Form 5500 Annual Reports” by the Department of Labor’s
Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA). The number of active participants
in DB plans decreased for the 13th straight year, by 4.2% in the same year. Meanwhile,
although the total number of DC plans declined by 0.8%, the number of
401(k)-type plans rose in 2012, from 513,000 to 516,000. The number of active
participants in 401(k)-type plans grew by 3%.Read more > |
| Employees Not Thinking Long-Term About Equity Awards |
| Fewer employees who receive equity compensation
are placing a high value on those awards, in part due to the long-term view of
their companies. A survey from UBS Wealth Management Americas finds employees
become increasingly engaged with their equity awards within three years of
retirement, likely because the awards will be used to fund participants’ lives
after work. Thirty-three percent of those nearing retirement say they have
become more engaged with their company stock, while only 10% feel they have
become less engaged. Other research has found equity compensation plans are
earmarked for eventual retirement savings. However, the latest “Participant
Voice” survey from UBS found 18% of equity compensation plan participants view
their equity award merely as a lottery ticket and seven in ten participants do
not create or follow a long-term planning for managing company stock holdings.Read more > |
|
| Buyer's Market |
| James Napoli has joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP as a
partner in the law firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation
practice. Napoli has more than 20 years of experience counseling employers about
various aspects of employee benefit programs, including health care reform
implementation and litigation, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
litigation and other matters affecting tax-qualified retirement plans.Read more > |
| John Hancock Reduces Fees for Retirement Portfolios |
| John Hancock Investments lowered expenses across
its suite of Retirement Living Portfolios, pledging up to 31% in fee savings
for shareholders. The firm says the move is meant to position the portfolio
suite for use in the growing target-date market. The Retirement Living Suite
comprises 10 portfolios with target retirement dates spanning from 2010 to
2055.Read more > |
|
| Industry Voice |
| How the Government Helped the Growth of 401(k)s |
| Fred Reish discusses the most important
governmental guidance for 401(k) plans in the 40-year history of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Here’s his list—and his reasoning.Read more > |
|
| Market Mirror |
| Yesterday, the Dow slipped 17.78 points
(0.10%) to 16,991.91, the NASDAQ was down 20.82 points (0.47%) at 4,454.80, and
the S&P 500 decreased 3.08 points (0.16%) to 1,964.82. The Russell 2000
climbed 8.36 points (0.76%) to 1,104.74, and the Wilshire 5000 closed 50.49
points (0.24%) lower at 20,665.04.
On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares traded, with
a slight lead for advancers. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands,
with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues nearly 2 to 1.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note increased 6/32,
decreasing its yield to 2.416%. The price of the 30-year Treasury note was up
3/32, with its yield down to 3.121%.
|
|
| Rules & Regulators |
| EEOC Files Another Lawsuit over Wellness Program |
| The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) is charging another company with violating the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) by its wellness program practices. The agency says
threats of insurance cancellation and discipline make the program involuntary
and violate the ADA. The lawsuit was filed against Flambeau, Inc., a Baraboo,
Wisconsin-based plastics manufacturing company.Read more > |
| Big Stakes in Supreme Court Review of Tibble |
| The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review
parts of Tibble v. Edison International
could have broad ramifications for plan sponsors and fiduciaries of defined
contribution retirement plans. The case is considered by industry observers to
be the first “excessive fee” litigation to reach the country’s top court. Nancy
Ross, a partner at corporate and employee benefits law firm Mayer Brown, tells
PLANSPONSOR that Tibble v. Edison
should be followed closely by plan sponsors, advisers and service providers
throughout the retirement planning industry—indeed, by all who carry a
fiduciary status for the plans they serve.Read more > |
|
| Financial Sense |
| The estimated aggregate funding level of pension
plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies remained at 84% at the end of September,
according to Mercer. Increases in interest rates used to calculate corporate
pension plan liabilities offset falling equity markets, holding funded status
constant. The collective estimated deficit of $352 billion as of September 30,
2014, is down $17 billion from the estimated deficit of $369 billion as of
August 31—the largest monthly decrease in pension liabilities this year, Mercer
says. The September deficit is up $116 billion from the beginning of the year.Read more > |
|
| Sponsored message from MetLife |
De-Risking Actions for Defined Benefit Pension Plans
There are several actions plan sponsors can take to de-risk their plans. View our short video to see how these actions may help you.Read more > |
|
| Small Talk |
| ON
THIS DATE: In 1868,
Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, New York. In 1913, for the first time, Henry Ford’s entire Highland Park,
Michigan automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line when
the chassis—the automobile’s frame—was assembled using the revolutionary
industrial technique. In 1968, the
Motion Picture Association of America adopted the film-rating system that ranged
from “G” to “X.” In 1984,
Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton became the NFL’s all-time rushing
leader, breaking the record Cleveland’s Jim Brown set in 1965. Payton carried
the ball 154 yards and finished the game with a new career rushing record—12,400
yards, 88 more than Brown. In 2001, the
U.S. and Great Britain began airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to that
state’s support of terrorism and Osama bin Laden. The act was the first
military action taken in response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September
11, 2001. In 2003, Randy Quaid
received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of
California. In 2004, Billy Bob
Thornton got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
TUESDAY
TRIVIA: The assembly line cut the man-hours required to
complete one “Model T” Ford from 12-1/2 hours to six.
|
| TRIVIAL PURSUITS: From
what industry did The Ford Motor Company get his inspiration for using assembly
lines?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
Copyright © Asset International, Inc.,
2014.
All
rights reserved. No reproduction without
prior authorization.
|
