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Fiduciary Governance
An unsuspecting fiduciary may encounter fiduciary breaches — and face unanticipated consequences.In “Fiduciary Breach: Avoidance and Mitigation,” a webcast by Bruce Ashton that will be held from 2:00-3:40 p.m. ET on Oct. 28, Bruce Ashton, APM, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, will address...
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Concerned that prior guidance has discouraged the embrace of “economically targeted investments,” the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new interpretive bulletin.The DOL starts by broadly defining an economically targeted investment as “…any investment that is selected, in part, for its...
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Sometimes when one walks through the woods, they can be quite thick. In fact, one can get lost in them if one is not careful. In an Oct. 21 session at the ASPPA Annual Conference, James E. Holland, Chief Research Actuary for Cheiron and former manager of the Employee Plans Division of the IRS Tax-...
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The 2015 ASPPA Annual Conference offered a great opportunity to meet other pension professionals, hear from government leaders and experts, and gain insights on critical issues and developments facing the industry. Here’s a recap of our coverage of sessions and speakers from this year’s conference...
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How do you manage client relationships and expectations? At an Oct. 20 session at the 2015 ASPPA Annual Conference, Norman Levinrad, President and Chief Actuary of Summit Benefit and Actuarial Services, offered practical tips and insights. The core of his message: It’s all about service.What does...
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The recent rough patch corporate pensions have had may have broader implications. Recent reports further buttress earlier analyses showing that corporate sector pensions took a hit due to investment losses in August and September.The $28 billion in corporate pension plan losses and $9 billion...
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W. Thomas Reeder, Jr., is the new Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Director. The Senate in a voice vote confirmed Reeder Oct. 8 to serve in that capacity. President Obama had sent his nomination of Reeder to the Senate on May 21.Reeder told the Senate Finance Committee in July that he...
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The IRS and Treasury have taken steps that curb lump sum pension buyout offers by pension plans to those receiving ongoing payments. In a recent post on his “Nerd’s Eye View” blog, Michael Kitces offers his take on their recent actions and what they mean.Kitces notes that lump sum buyout offers by...
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DB plans had a tough month in September. Recent reports indicate that both private and public plans’ funded status declined.Corporate plans’ funded ratio dropped to 81.8% in September according to BNY Mellon Fiduciary Solutions, BenefitsPro reports. That drop was primarily fueled by losses in the...
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Not one, not two, but three former chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) want the agency they ran to join the effort to set a fiduciary rule. They made their remarks at a TD Ameritrade summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 6.Harvey Pitt, Christopher Cox and Mary Schapiro all expressed...
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have taken steps to curb questionable practices concerning pension advance transactions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. The GAO made the disclosure in “Pension Advance Transactions: Questionable...
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Economist Robert Litan has responded on Forbes.com to accusations of conflicts of interest leveled the last week of September by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that cost him his position at the Brookings Institution.BackgroundIn a letter to Brookings president Strobe Talbot, Warren had claimed...
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As the Department of Labor (DOL) finalizes new fiduciary regulations, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are considering new legislation to address their concerns with DOL’s proposal.On Sept. 30, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on the regulations’...
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Think administering loans and withdrawals is complicated now? New legislation introduced in the Senate claims to shore up retirement security for women — but it’s got implications for plan design and administration.Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty...
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Strong majorities of defined benefit investment managers plan to allocate assets to passive funds, global equity funds, real estate, infrastructure and low-variance equities in the next three years. A report by CREATE-Research and Principal Global Investors says that this is part of a shift by...
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has expressed concerns about conflicts of interest in a study critical of the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal — and that has forced the resignation of one of its authors.According to a report in The Hill, the left-leaning Brookings Institution has forced one of...
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The House Financial Services has given a nod to a bill that would delay the Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing the proposed fiduciary rule. H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act, passed the committee in a 34-25 vote on Sept. 30.The bill, which Rep. Ann Wagner (D-Mo.) introduced on...
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ERISA does not preempt the application of all federal laws and regulations to retirement plans — and that includes website privacy standards set by the Federal Trade Commission.In a recent post on his Business of Benefits blog, Robert Toth, Principal at Toth Law, discusses a recent court ruling on...
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The latest issue of Employee Plans News, which the IRS issued on Sept. 30, provides comprehensive access to information concerning forms, correcting mistakes, plans and more that have been updated since the last issue of the newsletter.The information that can be accessed through Issue No. 2015-10...
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Do you or a client have participants who have not claimed their pension funds? The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in its Fall 2015 Retirement Recap newsletter features information on what to do about unclaimed pensions.Information is available from the PBGC about unclaimed pensions...
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