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Pensions were not on my mind in 1974, certainly not on Labor Day of that year. While I was pondering my new college textbooks, President Gerald Ford, less than a month in that role, signed into law the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 — better known to most of us as ERISA....
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What happens to executive retirement benefits when employers close or freeze their defined benefit pension plans? What if that plan is a hybrid or cash balance plan? And what does that mean for advisors? Consultant Towers Watson recently conducted an analysis of how Fortune 200 companies in...
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Eastman Kodak, one of New York State’s major employers, has changed its retirement plan in a rather unorthodox way. Kodak still offers both a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan, but has enhanced its DB plan while making its DC plan less attractive, Business Insurance...
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A new report offers a global perspective and some key findings on the challenges and opportunities of various retirement markets. The study, published by consultant Ernst & Young, was based on more than 80 interviews with pension and retirement professionals in 18 countries across the...
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Lincoln Financial Retirement Plan Services business recently announced three additions to the firm’s Participant Engagement team: • Alek Nabulsi, as an Advisor Director in the Southeast region. He is based in Atlanta, Ga. and reports to Celeste Gurule, Managing Director. • Ryan Rayburn, as...
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A federal bankruptcy judge has blocked the claims of several hundred 401(k) participants seeking to recover money invested by their retirement plans with Bernie Madoff’s investment firm. The decision, by Judge Stuart Bernstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, rejected the claims of some...
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The Department of Labor has offered some "friendly" advice to the U.S. Supreme Court as it considers a review of a high-profile 401(k) fee case. In a "friend of the Court" amicus brief filing, the DOL said it thinks that the high court should weigh in on the statute of limitations issue...
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National Financial Partners Corp. (NFP) has acquired Cincinnati-based Benefit Resources Inc., an insurance consulting and brokerage firm. Benefit Resources, founded in 1988, has been a member of NFP's Benefits Partners organization since 2008. The firm specializes in group benefits, HR and...
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Never been examined by the SEC? Get ready. The agency has revved up examinations of firms that have never been reviewed and that are at least three years old, InvestmentNews reports. While one advisor said the exams were thorough, consultants say that they are streamlined — starting with a...
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More than 10 years ago, the practice of conducting RFPs, which was firmly established for larger and mid-sized plans, started moving down to the small market, enabled by tools that made even the blindest of blind squirrel advisors appear farsighted. Is that evolution beginning for advisor...
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Got a 401(k) problem? The IRS has an updated “fix it” guide to help. The guide outlines how to find the mistake, as well as how to fix it and avoid it in the future. Here are some of the problems (and solutions) outlined in the updated guide: • plan document hasn’t been updated in a few...
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You are well aware of the value of your expertise and efforts, and now there is empirical evidence to back that up. “The Value of a Professional Plan Advisor,” a study by Transamerica and EACH Enterprise, outlines the benefits of working with a professional retirement plan advisor. A...
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Top DC plan advisor Jania Stout recently announced that she is leaving PSA to form her own national firm, Fiduciary Plan Advisors. Her business has grown beyond the Baltimore area and she is looking to partner with other plan advisors. At PSA, Stout built a large mid-market DC advisory...
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Concluding that Congress won't soon move forward on increasing retirement readiness for private-sector employees, Maryland, Connecticut and Illinois have joined the ranks of states that have either established a commission to study creation of statewide retirement programs or taken...
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It is routinely reported that 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring every day, and yet surveys continue to indicate that Americans plan to postpone retirement. This raises the question: are more older Americans working? A recent Wall Street Journal article notes (subscription required) that...
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The DOL’s ERISA Advisory Council wrapped up a three-day series of public meetings Aug. 21 with a focus on lifetime plan participation. The Council’s final session honed in on whether and how communications and specific plan design features may be used to enhance participants’ decisionmaking...
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Jean-Dominique Butikofer joined the fixed-income team as head of emerging markets at Voya Investment Management. Butikofer will direct the firm’s investment strategy for emerging markets, including sovereign and corporate debt, macro analysis, country research, sovereign risk, currencies, local...
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It doesn’t take a lot of deep thought to determine the primary drivers of fees that are still largely based on asset size, but a new report takes a look at the “all-in” fees for 401(k) plans, and what drives — and doesn’t drive — those trends. The study, released by Deloitte and the...
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Participants in 401(k) retirement plans who work with financial advisors save more and have clearer financial goals than their peers, according to a study by Natixis Global Asset Management. On average, workers contribute 8.6% of pay to their 401(k)s, but those who work with advisors...
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On the heels of a GAO report on issues with managed accounts and the offer nine months ago by Schwab to rebate fees to unhappy clients, TD Ameritrade made an interesting guarantee to rebate losses to investors in their managed account program. After receiving an “approval” from regulators...
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The newly founded Financial Advocacy Network (FAN) has joined the LPL Financial custodial platform. FAN, an independent hybrid RIA group based in the Washington, D.C. area, supports four independent financial advisory practices with a total of 13 financial advisers and about $450 million in...
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Despite their lack of retirement savings, a new survey finds that Millennials feel more financially secure than any other age group. Not only do Millennials — those between 18 and 29 years old — feel more secure in their jobs and more optimistic about their current financial situation than...
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Advisors know that wellness programs — and increasingly financial wellness programs — are all the rage in corporate HR departments across the country. But one recently drew the attention — and a lawsuit — from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC said that Orion...
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The way an advisor looks at the world will determine the type of clients they attract, financial advisor blogger Michael Kitces notes. Kitces suggests that advisors who have an abundance mentality versus a scarcity mentality do better because they attract likeminded clients. Clients with a...
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With the official report not due until September, a draft report released by the Oregon legislature's Task Force on Oregon Retirement Savings offers a blueprint of a proposed new mandatory auto-IRA program for the state. According to a report in the Oregon Statesman-Journal, the proposal calls for...
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