Author Archives: Will Orr

08 Jul

4 Liability Reducing Strategies for Today’s 401k Plan Sponsor (Part II)

By Chris Carosa | June 21, 2010

(The following is the second of two parts summarizing a keynote speech given by the author to a focus group on fiduciary concerns in Buffalo, New York on June 9, 2010.)

Last week we outlined the following regulatory issues 401k plan sponsors need to know right now: 1) The 401k Investment Advice Rule; 2) A Universal Fiduciary Standard; and, 3) The Modification of 12b-1 Fees (Will 401k World Change by Fall? FiduciaryNews.com June 15, 2010). These three issues linger like a ticking time bomb. They’re out there. They’re going to go off at some point. We just don’t know when. Plan fiduciaries need to get ready for them. Many 401k plan sponsors appear to have taken an “ostrich” approach. Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse for the law. Plan sponsors need to know what’s going on, lest they risk a troubling surprise. These are serious issues and the astute fiduciary can prevent unanticipated future liabilities by taking action right now.
Continue reading “4 Liability Reducing Strategies for Today’s 401k Plan Sponsor (Part II)” »

08 Jul

Will 401k World Change by Fall? 3 Pressing Regulatory Issues 401k Plan Sponsors Need to Know Right Now (Part I of II)

By Chris Carosa | June 15, 2010

They say things happen in threes. By the time the leaves begin to fall, this adage may prove true for 401k plan sponsors (and any ERISA fiduciary for that matter). Since the start of the year, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have worked diligently on developing a fresh regulatory framework. These potential new rules may dramatically change how 401k plan sponsors manage their companies’ retirement plans. Failure to understand the implication of these changes can ensnare companies and their ERISA trustees with unexpected liability issues.
Continue reading “Will 401k World Change by Fall? 3 Pressing Regulatory Issues 401k Plan Sponsors Need to Know Right Now (Part I of II)” »

08 Jul

The Government wants Your 401(k) and Retirement Account

By Scottsbluff : NE : USA | Jul 07, 2010

Hang onto your Individual Retirement Accounts, and 401(k) plans because the Federal Government wants them. According to an article by Goldworth, Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, and Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis Borzi head an endeavor to have Americans convert their retirement accounts. The Government wants them converted into annuities and Treasury bills, to fund the national debt. They need to sell $2 trillion dollars of bonds, and foreign countries aren’t buying like before. The world is concerned about the growing debt of the United States.
Continue reading “The Government wants Your 401(k) and Retirement Account” »

23 Jun

Is the Fiduciary Standard Enough? 3 Critical Fiduciary Duties Every ERISA Plan Sponsor Must Know

Congress, regulators and the financial industry itself sit on the cusp of requiring all financial service providers who provide investment advice to adopt the fiduciary standard. Now is a great time for ERISA Plan Sponsors (as well as those who provide investment advice to ERISA plans or participants), to familiarize themselves with the nature of fiduciary duties. The anticipated change in the law may expose these officers and vendors to a fiduciary liability they might not have anticipated.
Continue reading “Is the Fiduciary Standard Enough? 3 Critical Fiduciary Duties Every ERISA Plan Sponsor Must Know” »

23 Jun

Court Keeps 404(c) Shield in Place for Trustee

A retirement plan trustee was protected by Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) 404(c) safe harbor shield against a lawsuit by two 401(k) participants in connection with wrongdoing charges against the plan’s investment adviser.

The plaintiffs filed the suit after finding out that their accounts had been hit with a significant asset loss because of the activities of the adviser, whom both had appointed to manage their accounts.

The court noted that plaintiffs David Tullis and Michael Mack were two physicians who maintained pension funds through the Toledo Clinic Employees’ 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan, and that in the early 1990s, they chose William Davis of Continental Capital Corporation as their investment adviser.
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23 Jun

House Passes Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Relief Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that provides for defined contribution plan fee disclosure and temporarily eases pension funding requirements.

The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213) was considered by the House this week, after passing the Senate (see “Fee Disclosure Rides Along with Pension Relief”).
Continue reading “House Passes Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Relief Bill” »

27 May

401(k) Fee Disclosure and Pension Funding Provisions of H.R. 4213

By
Kittredge, Betsy Miller
on May 21, 2010 1:09 PM
Protecting Americans’ Retirement Security

A majority of American workers rely on 401(k)-style plans to finance their retirements. Most account holders report that they do not know how much Wall Street middle men are taking from their retirement accounts. Just a 1-percentage-point in excessive fees can reduce a worker’s 401(k) account balance by as much as 20 percent or more over a career.
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27 May

Should You Adjust Your 401(k) Now?

By Brian O’Connell

Increasingly, economists and stock market pundits are sounding the alarm over an imminent bear market.

* Economist Nouriel Roubini predicts that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will fall by 20%.
* Reuter’s financial blogger Felix Salmon offers a similar warning, telling investors that unless you're a large institution, get out of the stock market right now. “Stocks are dangerous things to own,” writes Salmon. "We are entering an era of massive volatility. You, as an individual investor, just simply don't have the risk appetite to be able to deal with that kind of volatility."

Continue reading “Should You Adjust Your 401(k) Now?” »

12 May

2010 ERISA guide to reporting & disclosure

Link To PDF

This 2010 Guide to ERISA Reporting and Disclosure was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Human Resource Services practice to help plan sponsors, plan administrators, plan trustees, attorneys and accountants comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)and the Internal Revenue Code. The Guide is useful in:

* Identifying forms to be filed and distributed annually
* Developing controls for compliance, including an internal calendar for reporting and disclosure
* Determining and coordinating reporting and disclosure items for actuaries, attorneys and accountants to prepare
* Identifying special reporting and disclosure requirements for plan installation, amendment, termination, etc.
* Evaluating administrative considerations in establishing a new or supplemental plan
* Advising on responsibility for compliance with the reporting and disclosure rules

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