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Registered investment advisers and broker-dealers that may be misrepresenting their credentials or the benefits and features of individual retirement accounts will be targeted by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, based on the initiatives listed in a Jan. 9 release of the agency’s 2014 examinatfion priorities. The so-called […]
The average 401(k) account balance at the end of 2012 was 8.4 percent higher than the year before, but increased assets weren’t typical for all defined contribution plan participants studied, according to a December 2013 brief by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. While equity investments through stock mutual funds comprised the bulk of 401(k) assets […]
For the third time in eight years, a federal district court decision endorsing Xerox’s pension plan interpretation has been reversed, setting aside judicial deference usually granted to these interpretations under ERISA and moving Xerox retirees closer to winning final benefits. The issue in the case is how an earlier lump-sum distribution to some employees affects […]
Plan sponsors have been waiting for details on rollovers within retirement plans to designated after-tax Roth accounts, and on Dec. 11, IRS issued new guidance that may prove beneficial. Among the clarifications and changes in Notice 2013-74 was an extension of the deadline for amending plans to incorporate in-plan Roth accounts. Now plans have until […]
A brief from the U.S. Solicitor General recommending that the U.S. Supreme Court hear a “stock-drop” class-action case could make it the most important ERISA litigation of the High Court’s current term. Employee benefits attorneys watching the case’s progress say a High Court decision could deter employers from offering employer stock as a 401(k) plan […]
BY Justin Alex, Proskauer Rose Law Firm Defined benefit plan sponsors can solve plan overpayments in several ways, including using IRS self-correction programs. But it’s important to remember that plans are not required to keep paying benefits to those not eligible for them to begin with, Proskauer Rose law firm associate attorney Justin Alex reminds us […]
While most retirement plan sponsors and their vendors think being deemed a plan fiduciary is an “all-or-nothing” proposition, it is in fact becoming a growing continuum of service-provider job titles and responsibilities, one industry expert suggests. For example, a survey of 100 randomly selected, non-client plan sponsors conducted by retirement planning and wealth management firm […]
If your retirement plan committee is satisfied with the automatic enrollment policy in place but has expressed concerns about the rising cost of the employer match that a growing participant base can bring, new research may provide a window into how other employer plan sponsors are handling this dilemma. Automatically enrolling employees in company retirement […]
By Mary Jo Larson Nearly every 401(k) plan offers its participants some investment options that include revenue-sharing fee payments. For many years, employers were not even aware that their participants’ investments were generating these payments. Today, in the wake of new U.S. Department of Labor disclosure and reporting rules and well-publicized cases attacking employers for […]
Two indicators of U.S. corporate pension health topped 90-percent funding ratios for September, a significant sign of improvement in the vitality of defined benefit plans. Mercer’s S&P 1500 Indicator Rises Funding levels of DB plans sponsored by Standard & Poor’s 1500 companies monitored monthly by human resources consultant Mercer improved in the latest month, reaching […]