| | PLANSPONSOR Awards | | 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
2016 PLANSPONSOR Plan Sponsor of the Year awards. This is an excellent
opportunity for you to tell your story and share your 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 > | | 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 2016 PLANSPONSOR Retirement
Plan Adviser of the Year awards, please nominate him or her! Nominations can be
made here.Read more > |
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| | Administration & Benefits | | Optimism and Pessimism Both Drive American Savers | | An informative infographic presented by
www.masters-in-accounting.org shows just how conflicted American retirement
savers are when it comes to thinking and talking about money issues. On the one
hand, more than half of individual investors (56%) in the U.S. say they have a
favorable view of their current financial situation. On the other, 57% of
workers say they are unprepared for a financial emergency, and when considering
retirement and the long term, confidence wanes further.Read more > | | Improving Employee Health Fuels Growth of Worksite Clinics | | When employers are asked how they plan to
control health benefit costs over the long term, they talk about improving
employee health, and this is one factor fueling growth in worksite clinics,
according to Mercer. Last year, Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored
Health Plans found that 29% of employers with 5,000 or more employees provided
an onsite or near-site clinic offering primary care services, up from 24% in
the prior year. Mercer followed up with these employers in a new, targeted
survey on worksite clinics. Of the 134 respondents, 72% of those whose clinics
provide general medical services said that managing employee health risk and
chronic conditions is an important objective for the clinic. What services do
worksite health clinics provide, and how do employers measure success?Read more > | | | Products, Deals & People | | CIC Plus Offers ACA Reporting | | Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (ACA), any organization with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees
that provides minimum essential health care coverage to individuals must report
to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and provide covered individuals with
information specific to their coverage each year for their federal tax return
filings. CIC Plus offers employers the flexibility of providing employees with
electronic or printed ACA statements.Read more > | | | Market Mirror | U.S. stocks
fell during afternoon trading Wednesday as an early rally faded. The declines
were led by energy companies as the price of oil dropped, according to the
Associated Press. The Dow lost 239.11 points (1.45%) to finish at 16,253.57,
the NASDAQ decreased 55.40 points (1.15%) to 4,756.53, and the S&P 500 fell
30.43 points (1.55%) to 1,938.98. The Russell 2000 was down 13.51 points
(1.16%) at 1,148.25, and the Wilshire 5000 closed 278.56 points (1.34%) lower
at 20,516.72.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares changed hands, with declining issues outnumbering advancing
issues nearly 3 to 1. On the NASDAQ, nearly 2.8 billion shares traded, with a
more than 2 to 1 lead for decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 1/32,
increasing its yield to 2.188%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was up
5/32, decreasing its yield to 2.950%.
| | | From the Magazine | | When Procurement Is Involved in the RFP Process | | Industry experts stress the importance of having
all key people from the plan sponsor’s team involved in the request for
proposals (RFP) process, from setting plan goals through the customization of
the actual request. Lately, however, there is one group working on many RFPs
that has a very limited relationship with the retirement plan. “More
frequently, we’re starting to see requests for proposals for retirement plan
service providers go through procurement departments,” notes Kathleen Kelly,
managing partner at Compass Financial Partners in Greensboro, North Carolina.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In
1608, John Smith was elected
president of the Jamestown, Virginia, colony council. In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine. In 1913, the Lincoln Highway opened. It
was the first paved coast-to-coast highway in the U.S. In 1935, “Popeye” was heard on NBC radio for the first time.
In 1953, Swanson began selling its
first “TV dinner.” In 1955,
“Gunsmoke” premiered on CBS. In 1955,
Bert Parks began a 25-year career as host of the “Miss America
Pageant” on NBC. In 1998, Mac
Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. | | SURVEY SAYS: Recently,
we covered a survey that suggests childish behaviors in the workplace are
common. This week, I’d like to know, which childish behaviors have you
witnessed in the workplace, and can you share a specific example. You may
respond to this week’s survey by 6 p.m. Pacific time today.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 > |
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