Corporate Retirement Plan News | Compass Corporate Retirement Solutions BLOG

04 Sep

Don’t Kill Your 401(k)

Published: 03 Sep 2009 23:27:12 PST

Author: Nancy Mann Jackson

Is the recession making it difficult to fork over your company’s 401(k) contribution to your employees? If so, you’re not alone. The Pension Rights Center’s running list of companies that have changed or temporarily suspended their 401(k) contributions since last summer has reached 300. Yet, the list is dominated by large employers such as American Express and Xerox.
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04 Sep

Independent Advisers Prominent in Retirement Plans

Ellie Behling

August 04, 2009 — Independent advisers concentrate more of their assets in employer-sponsored retirement plans compared to other adviser channels, according to Cogent Research.

Overall, more than half (55%) of advisers in all channels are managing at least one employer-sponsored retirement plan (ESRP), according to Cogent’s annual Advisor Brandscape report.

Advisers in independent firms are more likely than other advisers to be involved with managing or providing advice on ESRPs, with more than half (60%) using them, followed by regional and national advisers (both 57%). Forty-one percent of registered investment advisers (RIAs) manage ESRPs.
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01 Sep

Retirement Security Is Crucial Issue For White House, Economic Official Says

Pension & Benefits Daily

A crucial issue for the Obama administration is retirement security, Lawrence H. Summers, assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council, said Aug. 1

Retirement security issues are included in the administration’s economic strategy, Summers told a retirement research conference sponsored by the Social Security Administration and the Retirement Research Consortium.
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01 Sep

10 Things You’re (Probably) Doing Wrong—or Not Doing Right—as a Plan Fiduciary

IMHO: “To Do” List
Nevin E. Adams, JD

http://www.planadviser.com/NewsColumnists.aspx?id=6468
August 16, 2009 —

Being a plan fiduciary is a tough job—and one that, it’s probably fair to say—is underappreciated, if not undercompensated. In my experience, most who find themselves in that role (see “IMHO: Duty Calls”) I think do an admirable job of living up to the spirit, if not the letter, of their responsibilities.
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01 Sep

The DB(k): Pension of the Future

When hiring picks up again, this blend of defined benefit and 401(k) features will help snag top talent.

By Joan Pryde, Senior Tax Editor, the Kiplinger letters

http://www.kiplinger.com/businessresource/forecast/archive/DBk_pension_of_future_090819.html

August 19, 2009

An attractive new option for employer sponsored retirement plans becomes available next year. The “DB(k)” offers businesses with 500 or fewer employees an opportunity to provide a strong retirement plan for their employees with fewer hassles and less financial drain than a traditional pension plan.
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31 Aug

Use of Asset Allocation Funds Helps Participants Diversify

August 19, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The fact that 20% of participants in defined contribution plans administered by The Vanguard Group invested their entire nest eggs in an asset allocation fund at year-end 2008 helped shield the participants from the market’s turmoil during the year, new Vanguard research indicated.
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31 Aug

In This Corner: Who is getting rich from my 401(k)? Not me

Published: August 30, 2009

Workers have long counted on their 401(k) plans to sustain them during retirement, only to watch helplessly as they plummet in value. With hints that the worst of the economic meltdown may finally be over, 401(k) participants are looking for direction and guidance on how to get their accounts back to where they once were.
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31 Aug

Survey Examines Design Features, Investment Experience Of Defined Contribution Plans In 2008

CCH® PENSION — 08/31/09

From Spencer’s Benefits Reports: In How America Saves 2009, Vanguard examines the plan design features and investment experience of more than 2,200 defined contribution plans for which the company provides recordkeeping services. Ninety percent of these plans have a 401(k) or 403(b) employee contribution feature, while the remaining 10% are plans such as profit-sharing plans to which only the employer contributes.
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17 Aug

The process of picking a co-fiduciary

Delegating such a major responsibility requires prudence, planning and procedures

By Blaine F. Aikin
August 16, 2009

By definition, prudence involves the exercise of skill and good judgment in the use of resources. It is a core fiduciary duty. Consistent with the stature of fiduciary obligations as the highest known to law, fiduciaries are expected to ensure that investments entrusted to their care are managed with the skill and judgment of a professional.
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16 Aug

The practical side of being a fiduciary

By Jerry Kalish
August 1, 2009
It’s a tough world out there now for retirement plan fiduciaries. Buffeted by the most complex set of forces since ERISA arrived in 1974, plan fiduciaries today must cope with heightened compliance enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor, increasing litigation by plan participants and tightened fiduciary liability insurance markets.Despite all these forces that are swirling around, there are some practical ways that fiduciaries can effectively manage their responsibilities. But before you say, “I’m not a fiduciary,” you should double-check. As an HR/benefits executive, you may be a fiduciary if you:
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