Nevin Adams

The Class of 2021

By Nevin Adams 8/25/2017

Several years back, a group of us were talking about the rising cost of gasoline, when I quite casually mentioned, “Well, at least we’re not having to wait in lines to buy it.” At which point it was obvious from the reaction of the group that I was the only one who had had that particular... READ MORE

ARA Weighs in on Nevada Fiduciary Law

By Nevin Adams 8/23/2017

The American Retirement Association has filed a comment letter raising concerns about the application of a new fiduciary regulation in the state of Nevada.The comment letter includes a legal analysis conducted by the law firm of Trucker Huss that concludes that courts would find that the Nevada... READ MORE

Large Plan Recordkeeping Fees Snap Losing Streak

By Nevin Adams 8/23/2017

A new report finds that recordkeeping, trust and custody fees didn’t drop for the first time since 2010. Then again, they didn’t increase, either.According to the 12th Annual NEPC Defined Contribution Plan and Fee Survey, recordkeeping, trust and custody fees bucked the longstanding trend of... READ MORE

Hypothetically Speaking

By Nevin Adams 8/18/2017

A new academic study offers some insights on taxpayer preferences for pre-tax versus Roth savings — at least in certain conditions.The study — which carries the somewhat unwieldy title “The Relative Effects of Economic and Non-Economic Factors on Taxpayers’ Preferences Between Front-Loaded and Back... READ MORE

Proprietary Fund Suit Class Might Not Be Eligible

By Nevin Adams 8/11/2017

A plaintiff seeking class action status in a proprietary fund suit against his former employer may have hit a snag.The case is one brought by Marlon H. Cryer, individually and on behalf of a class of all other persons similarly situated, and on behalf of the Franklin Templeton 401(k) Retirement... READ MORE

DOL Signals Move to Extend Fiduciary Transition Period, Full BIC Applicability Date

By Nevin Adams 8/9/2017

The Labor Department has submitted a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend the transition period and full Best Interest Contract (BIC) applicability date of the fiduciary regulation.The notice – which indicates that the Labor Department intends to push back to July 1, 2019... READ MORE

5th Circuit Panel Presses DOL on Fiduciary Rule

By Nevin Adams 8/7/2017

The fiduciary regulation got another day in court last week — and, for a change, this time the regulation’s challengers appeared to draw blood.The setting was oral arguments before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, with the Labor Department making its case for the regulation challenged by a group... READ MORE

Ascensus Lands Another State-Run Retirement Plan Client

By Nevin Adams 8/6/2017

Ascensus, already tapped to administer the OregonSaves state-run IRA program, has landed another client.The Dresher, Pennsylvania-based provider announced last week that it had been chosen as Illinois’ preferred partner for its Secure Choice program following a public-bidding process. According to... READ MORE

Why Your Recordkeeper Might Not Be an Automatic Enrollment Fan

By Nevin Adams 8/4/2017

I recently wrote about what’s wrong with automatic enrollment. Turns out there’s more — and it has to do with when things actually go “wrong” with automatic enrollment.See, it’s one thing to say that eligible employees should be automatically enrolled — and yet another to actually get them enrolled... READ MORE

Court OKs Discovery Request in Excessive Fee Case

By Nevin Adams 8/4/2017

In an excessive fee suit brought by participants, a money manager is going to have to turn over reports about the performance, expense and profitability of the mutual funds in the company’s 401(k) plan.The plaintiffs in the case against American Century Services (ACS) (Wildman v. Am. Century Servs... READ MORE

DOL Files for (Another) Stay in Fiduciary Litigation

By Nevin Adams 7/28/2017

The Labor Department has filed for a stay of proceedings in litigation challenging the fiduciary regulation.“Here, a stay of proceedings would be the most efficient use of judicial resources,” the Labor Department noted, going on to state that the plaintiff in the case (Thrivent Financial for... READ MORE

Do Fund Manager Changes Affect Fund Performance?

By Nevin Adams 7/27/2017

A new Morningstar analysis finds no relationship between fund manager changes and future returns — but there are impacts.“A management change is not predictive of a performance downturn,” notes Quantitative Analyst Madison Sargis and Kai Chang, Director of Quantitative Research at Morningstar. “In... READ MORE

What’s Wrong with Automatic Enrollment?

By Nevin Adams 7/21/2017

Automatic enrollment has long been touted — and proven — to be an effective way to overcome retirement savings inertia in 401(k) plans. But these days automatic enrollment plan design seems to be suffering from its own inertia.For all the good press and positive results that automatic enrollment... READ MORE

Stock Slump Sets Up Stock Suit

By Nevin Adams 7/21/2017

The surging stock market may have muted suits brought by participants regarding employer stock holdings — but a new one claims to be “about the defendants’ abject failure, as plan fiduciaries, to protect the interests of the participants.”The plan at issue this time is Sears Holdings Corp., which,... READ MORE

ARA Crafts New Levelized Fee Exemption in RFI Response

By Nevin Adams 7/18/2017

In a July 18 letter responding to the Labor Department’s request for information (RFI) on its fiduciary regulation, the American Retirement Association (ARA) has requested an extension of the applicability date — and a streamlined levelized fee exemption.Level ‘Better’The ARA had authored — and... READ MORE

Good News, Bad News in Social Security Trustees Report

By Nevin Adams 7/17/2017

The good news is that the funding level of that critical financial underpinning of the nation’s retirement security didn’t decrease during the past year.On the other hand — and the bad news in the report from the Social Security Board of Trustees — is that the combined asset reserves of the Old-Age... READ MORE

DOL Files Brief in Fiduciary Regulation Litigation

By Nevin Adams 7/6/2017

The Department of Labor (DOL) may be reviewing the impact of the fiduciary rule, but they’d still like the court to dismiss challenges to it.On July 3, the DOL urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to (mostly) uphold the fiduciary regulation, saying that the plaintiffs in the case —... READ MORE

Comment Period on DOL Fiduciary Reg RFI Open

By Nevin Adams 7/5/2017

The comment period on the fiduciary rule request for information (RFI) is short — and it started July 6.The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it would publish its request for information on the fiduciary rule in the Federal Register on... READ MORE

Small Plan Participant Seeks Big Class Action Against Nationwide

By Nevin Adams 7/3/2017

A participant in a plan with 27 participants is seeking the return of the “excessive and unreasonable asset-based fees charged by Nationwide for recordkeeping and administrative services, and to prevent Nationwide from charging those excessive fees in the future.”The suit (Schmitt v. Nationwide... READ MORE

Fiduciary Lessons from the Founding Fathers

By Nevin Adams 7/3/2017

Anyone who has ever found their grand idea shackled to the deliberations of a committee, or who has had to kowtow to the sensibilities of a recalcitrant compliance department, can empathize with the process that produced the Declaration of Independence.Indeed, there are any number of things that... READ MORE

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