December 9, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Plan sponsors can get their fiduciary responsibility questions answered during a Department of Labor (DOL) seminar in New York City.
The
agency’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is hosting its “Getting
It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities” seminar in the city on Tuesday, January
7, 2014.
Understanding
your plan and your responsibilities;
Carefully
selecting and monitoring service providers;
Making
contributions on time;
Avoiding
prohibited transactions; and
Making
appropriate disclosures to plan participants and filing annual reports to the
government on time.
The
seminar will be at the Jacob Javits Federal Building, 6th Floor Conference
Center, 26 Federal Plaza, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
More information and
a link to the registration form are here.
Equity Compensation and Retirement Readiness Linked
December 9, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The amount of equity compensation employees have and how they value it corresponds to their state of retirement readiness.
The latest installment of the UBS Participant Voice survey, subtitled
the UBS Equity Award Value Index, finds that certain variables drive employees’ perception of the value of such compensation, including the role played in building
wealth and the context in which employees put this compensation in relation to
their broader financial plan.
For the index, employees fell into three distinct
groups, each with its own unique perception about equity compensation. The
first group consists of those employees who have had six or more vestings. This
group views equity compensation as a way to build wealth. The second group
consists of those with between three and five vestings. These employees view equity
compensation as a supplement to their paycheck. The third group consists of those
with three or fewer vestings. These people view equity compensation as a lottery
ticket.
Within the “six or more” group, the survey
authors say, “Employees with more vesting experience are also more confident in
their decisionmaking about their equity compensation, as well as financial
decisions overall. They feel optimistic about their financial situations and
highly prepared for retirement.” Survey results show this group has the
most investable assets.
The “three and five” group, say survey authors, “appear
aware of the potential that their equity awards have, although they remain
unsure how to maximize that potential. They are also keenly aware and concerned
about the impact of market volatility on their equity compensation. As a
result, these employees are seeking information from a wide variety of sources
and are open to receiving guidance.” Survey results show this group is
only somewhat prepared in terms of retirement planning.
The “three or fewer” group is “less confident about equity compensation decisions, as well
as broader financial decisions, which speaks to a need for basic education.”
Survey results show this group is the least prepared in terms of
retirement planning and has the least in investable assets.
The groups also assign different importance to company stock/option grants. For the “six or more” crowd, 51% say equity compensation is a
very important factor in accumulating wealth. Only 38% of the “three to five”
group and a mere 20% of the “three or fewer” group say the same.
Additionally, when asked how they make decisions about their
equity compensation, 58% of the “six or more” group say such decisions are part
of their overall financial planning, while only 49% of the “three to five”
group and just 46% of the “three or fewer” group say the same.
The survey is conducted on a semi-annual basis. This
installment of it was carried out by Research Now on behalf of UBS.
Between September 24 and 30, 579 employees who are members of an equity compensation
plan completed a questionnaire online.