De-Risking Your U.S. Pension: Choices and Challenges
Defined benefit plan sponsors have become very focused on ways to control their asset volatility and to remove pension liabilities from their balance sheets. In fact, it would be fair to call...
View ArticleDe-Risking U.S. Pensions Through Lump Sum Offers – What’s on the Front Burner...
Does your defined benefit plan have a lump sum option? Nearly forty percent of U.S. employers who sponsor defined benefit pension plans are at least “somewhat likely” to offer lump sums to retirees and...
View ArticleDe-Risking On Trial? U.S. Verizon Litigation Still Active
In our March 13 webinar on de-risking defined benefit pension plans, I stated that the U.S. litigation launched by a group of Verizon retirees challenging the annuitization of their pensions was not...
View ArticleAre Your 401(k) Plan’s Target Date Funds On Target?
Most 401(k) plans that have qualified default investment funds (QDIA’s) have chosen target date funds as their default investments. Target date funds change their mix of investments to become more...
View ArticlePresident Obama’s Pension Cap: Who Would Really Be Affected?
The President’s recent budget proposal would impose a new cap on tax-favored retirement benefits. Annual contributions and accruals under tax-favored plans are already limited, but this would be a...
View ArticleU.S. Plan Audit Activity is on the Rise – How to Lower Your Risk
Does your 401(k) plan pay higher than average fees? Do you have more than one qualified plan? A number of recent reports indicate why you may receive special scrutiny if your plan is selected for audit...
View ArticleDOMA’S Demise Has Broad Impact on U.S. Benefit Plans: Prepare for new claims...
When you heard about the invalidation of the part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage as between a man and a woman by the United States Supreme Court, you probably thought: “Now...
View ArticleVerizon De-Risking Challenge Dismissed – Maybe Not Ended
U.S. defined benefit plan sponsors have been eager to explore de-risking options to control asset volatility and remove pension liabilities from their balance sheets. A report jointly issued on June 25...
View ArticleU.S. Employee Benefit Plans Must Comply with Supreme Court’s DOMA Decision:...
When the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) provision defining marriage under federal law as between a man and a woman, the decision had broad implications for...
View ArticleRight from the Source: IRS Guidance for U.S. Plan Sponsors on Fixing Mistakes...
Those of you who participated in our July 16 webinar on plan fix-it programs heard us emphasize the importance of self-audits and internal controls to increase your chances of coming out clean in an...
View ArticleNew 401(k) Fee Controversy Goes Viral: What Should Fiduciaries Really Be...
The web was on fire this past week with reports from advisers whose clients had received some very unusual letters from a Yale law professor who doesn’t teach an ERISA course....By: Carol Buckmann
View ArticleCanadian (and U.S.) Investment Funds Face New Risk of Pension Liability –...
The Issue: Commonly controlled trades or businesses are jointly and severally liable for pension liabilities under the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....By: Carol Buckmann
View ArticleCan a Class of Participants Challenge 401(k) Plan Investments? An Appeals...
One participant’s investment losses don’t generate recoveries or legal fees sufficient to interest many plaintiffs’ lawyers in filing suit, so often, a class certification is sought in lawsuits...
View ArticleIRS Clarifies Some Same-Sex Marriage Issues, But Leaves Retroactive Employee...
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the central provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as between a man and a woman, employee benefit plan sponsors have been...
View ArticleAnother Participant Challenge to Defined Benefit Plan Investments: Could Your...
The focus of U.S. litigation challenging plan investments has been 401(k) plans, but that may be changing. Defined benefit plan sponsors may have felt that they were immune to these types of claims...
View ArticlePBGC Finds Deep Pocket in Japan: U.S. Court Finds Parent Liable for...
As the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) faces increasing strain on the pension insurance program it runs, it has become more aggressive in pursuing deep pockets after underfunded...
View ArticleCan You Save Money By De-Risking Your U.S. Defined Benefit Plan?
Do you know how much keeping former employees in your defined benefit plan costs? Mercer’s US Pension Buyout Index for November 2013 reports that as of December 31, 2013, the economic cost of retaining...
View ArticleIs Your 401(k) Vendor a Fiduciary? The U.S. Department of Labor Thinks It Is
If you adopted a pre-approved 401(k) plan through an outside vendor such as Fidelity, Vanguard, or one of the large insurance companies, your choices were limited to what your vendor offered. Further,...
View ArticleYour 401(k) Plan and the Shape of the Earth
I used to work with a very smart lawyer who said that he could give a legal opinion that the world was flat if his qualifying language was not limited. In that case, he would have stated something on...
View ArticleThe Teflon Fiduciary: Could Your U.S. Adviser Avoid Responsibility For Bad...
Ronald Reagan was referred to years ago as “the Teflon President” because voters never seemed to hold him responsible for his administration’s missteps. A significant decision on fiduciary status has...
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