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News Archive
We have more access — and easier access — to information than at any time in human history. And a good fiduciary can identify which of it will most affect clients and their accounts, argues a recent blog entry.
In “A Fiduciary Must Separate the Wheat from the Hype,” Christopher Carosa argues that...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated its Staff Responses to Practitioner Questions webpage to include additional information about guaranteed benefits, reportable events and standard terminations. The page provides a useful look at the PBGC’s take on particular situations...
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The “January effect” looks to be in full force for the average 401(k) balance.
That effect is a seasonal increase in stock prices during the month of January, which has been attributed to a number of things, generally a rebound from tax-loss related stock sales in December.
And if December’s...
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It’s been said that Millennials, whose influence grows daily, generally don’t like the name their generation has been given. And while much has been written about them, Millennials do share undeniable characteristics — some of which have important implications for the retirement industry.
Speaking...
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House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richie Neal (D-MA) announced Jan. 30 that the committee will hold a hearing on Feb. 6 on improving retirement security for America’s workers.
It is anticipated that the hearing will be the first of many focusing on retirement security issues, eventually...
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The political climate has changed and this necessitates some new approaches, American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO Brian Graff indicated in remarks at a Jan. 28 session at the 2019 30th Anniversary NTSA Summit held in Tampa, FL.
Graff attributed the results of the November 2018 elections not...
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A managed account provider and a recordkeeper platform have been sued for conspiring to direct participant savings to expensive, affiliated funds.
Plaintiff Kimberly Davis worked for Palace Entertainment in Greensboro, NC and Riverhead, NY, and participated in its 401(k) retirement plan that...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has announced that its mediation program is now permanent. In addition, it reports, it has expanded the program. The PBGC launched a pilot mediation program in October 2017.
The program originally offered mediation with certain termination liability...
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Pension de-risking occurred at a brisk pace in 2018. In fact, it was so robust, says a recent study, that if trends continue, a “significant portion” of the $3 trillion-plus of pension plan liabilities that have not been de-risked will be transferred in the next 10 years.
A variety of factors are...
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The threat of being sued continues to dominate plan sponsor reluctance of being too innovative with their defined contribution plans, a recent study finds.
According to Alight Solution’s 2019 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellbeing report, “Building on the past, working toward the future...
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When it comes to participant communications, a new white paper suggests that some retirement plan terms have meanings that are completely out of step with the definitions most people associate with them.
In “Boosting the effectiveness of retirement plan communications,” the Empower Institute...
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In order to serve a client effectively — and fulfill fiduciary duties, BTW — a fiduciary of course must know their client. And one also must pursue the client’s best interest. But it’s possible that those goals may not always be congruent; in fact, they may even be mutually exclusive, argues a...
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A fiduciary must be prudent. But what exactly is prudence? A recent blog entry broaches the subject.
In “Dear Prudence,” an entry in the blog The Research Puzzle, Tom Brakke writes that “at the core” of laws and regulations that guide those who assist others in managing their assets “is the...
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Has an index fund become a presumption of prudence?
You may remember that not so very long ago, courts had determined that the holding of employer stock in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) was entitled to a presumption that their fund management was prudent under a “presumption of prudence”...
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Employer sentiment regarding the most important employee behavior within their 401(k) plan has changed quite drastically over the past 15 years and will likely change again, according to Alight Solutions.
In 2005, interpreting new laws like the safe harbor for automatic rollovers and force-outs...
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Like water poured on the top of a hill whose reach is quick and hard to control, the stalemate in Washington is spreading beyond what’s reported on the nightly news. Add retirement plan administration to the list of everyday functions that are now feeling the impacts.
The most predictable effect,...
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Dearest ACOPA Members (and you are the dearest!) –
January 2018 set a record for most data requests sent in by my clients. But sure enough, January 2019 broke that record. Just keeping track of what has come in is a job itself, and enough to make my head spin. Presumably I am that much closer to...
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If you’re like me, your ASC 715 valuations around 2013 and earlier often used for the mortality assumption what I’ll call the “IRS funding tables” – specifically, the separate or combined static annuitant/nonannuitant tables in effect for a given year published in IRS Notices. (And, if you’re like...
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Legislation has been introduced in the Bay State that would expand the Commonwealth’s auto-IRA program for private sector workers and establish a 401(k) parallel, with an employer mandate.
The first bill, SD 1902, introduced by state senator Patricia D. Jehlen, establishes the Massachusetts Secure...
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Misunderstanding what the “15th business day” means for purposes of Department of Labor (DOL) regulations can earn one unwelcome federal attention. A recent blog entry discusses that risk and how to obviate it.
The DOL’s participant contribution regulation requires employers of all sizes to...
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