Service Providers
Special pay features became popular among 403(b) plans after EGTRRA enabled 403(b) sponsors to make employer nonelective contributions to the 403(b) account of a former employee. In MarketBeat, Linda Segal Blinn argues that as is often the case, the devil can be in the details and discusses how the...
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Financial reporting standards the Government Accounting Standard Board (GASB) set in place in Statement 74 last year are effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2016. This affects a variety of retirement plans that provide postemployment benefits other than pension benefits (OPEB)....
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“Data security is a team sport.” That’s how FIS Chief Risk Officer Greg Montana summed up cybersecurity efforts at a June 20 session of the SPARK National Conference held in Washington, DC. The panel included not only experts from the private sector, but also Deputy Assistant Secretary for...
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Look for a bill to be introduced in Congress next month that some have called “auto-IRA on steroids.”At the recent Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (FSP) commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Pension Protection Act, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus...
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Less than a year till zero hour on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule. And while it is imminent but not formally implemented just yet, it’s already having an effect — and panel discussions at the June 20-21 SPARK National Conference in Washington, DC offered insights into those effects...
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The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on June 15 to examine ways to leverage prizes and technology to influence savings behavior.The hearing featured testimony from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies President Catherine Collinson that focused on a new research report...
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A strong majority of attendees at a recent conference for executives, investment professionals and registered investment advisors expect that changes to their technological systems will be necessary in order to comply with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. An even greater majority expect...
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There are plenty of financial pressures on DC plans, providers and sponsors. Not to mention the importance clients place on fees when considering whether to drop an investment manager. In a June 20 session at the 2016 SPARK National Conference held in Washington, D.C., Tom Kmak, CEO of Fiduciary...
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The three lawsuits filed against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation in the Northern District of Texas could be coming together. The DOL has filed an “unopposed motion to consolidate cases” with the court, arguing that: all three actions challenge the same agency rulemaking...
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver recently included a segment that was deeply critical of the financial services industry and specifically referenced the 401(k) plan that the show’s production company has with John Hancock. Here’s John Hancock’s response.“As could have been inferred from the...
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You may have missed it, but you’ll likely be hearing a lot about John Oliver’s take on retirement savings, financial advisors, small plans, and the fiduciary regulation. Warning: It isn’t pretty.HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” spent about 20 minutes talking about those issues,...
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Last week, House Republicans released the first of six documents detailing their policy agenda, a portion of which included recommendations to “build retirement security through the private retirement system.” The most notable aspect of the report, however — a blueprint from the Task Force on...
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Collective trusts have seemingly become all the rage in plan investment circles, and for some very good reasons. But what of a 403(b) plan purchasing collective investment trusts (CITs)? In MarketBeat, Robert Toth discusses issues that need to be addressed concerning 403(b)s and CITs.
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A TPA’s personnel says that 403(b) accounts are individual contracts and refuses to change the contracts to a group contract. In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us whether they will honor the asset exchange, liquidate the assets and transfer them to the new TPA on an individual basis if the...
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This year, there were three named tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean by June 5 — the first time ever that there were three named storms by such an early date. And two of them made landfall in the United States. With the official Atlantic hurricane season just begun (the National Oceanic and...
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Is it possible that individual 403(b) participant accounts can be considered individual contracts unless the third party administrator chooses to change the contract into a group contract? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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Is it possible that individual 403(b) participant accounts can be considered individual contracts unless the third party administrator chooses to change the contract into a group contract? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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By the end of last year, 403(b) plans contained nearly $1 trillion in assets. They are a significant part of the U.S. retirement landscape, and a recent paper takes a closer look at 403(b)s.In “The BrightScope/ICI Defined Contribution Plan Profile: A Close Look at ERISA 403(b) Plans, 2013”...
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The IRS has updated the comprehensive page on its website that provides information about, and links to, information about retirement plan documents.The IRS organizes that information in subject matter categories. Each category includes: an explanation that provides guidance in the law and legal...
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A recent blog post provides tips and ideas for ensuring that plan and participant information is secure and protected from cyberattack. “Addressing Cybersecurity in Your Retirement Plan TPA Contract,” by the law firm von Briesen & Roper, offers ideas on how to incorporate cybersecurity...
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