Investing | November 13th, 2019 DB Plan Sponsors Focused on Cost and Funded Status Concerns They are lengthening bond durations and increasing liability-hedging fixed income allocations, a Vanguard survey found.
Administration | November 11th, 2019 Firms Estimate DB Funded Status Improvements in October This is due to positive equity returns; however, plan sponsors will likely see a pension liability increase on year-end balance...
Investing | October 31st, 2019 Fixed Income Played Role in Increasing Institutional Investor Returns Corporate ERISA pension plans reported the highest median return of the three segments tracked, and had the highest allocation to...
Compliance | October 21st, 2019 PBGC to Assume Responsibility of Health System’s Retirement Plans This protection by the PBGC is one reason for a string of lawsuits that challenge other nonprofit healthcare systems’ retirement...
Administration | October 17th, 2019 Breaking Free From Interest Rate Bind on DB Funding The long-running low interest rate environment has created DB plan funding challenges, but plan sponsors can take steps to mitigate...
Compliance | October 14th, 2019 PBGC Announces Premium Rates for 2020 The agency notes that there are no scheduled increases (other than indexing) for years after 2019.
Products | October 14th, 2019 Club Vita Introduces Mortality Tables Considering Geography The company says the nine-digit ZIP code, or ”ZIP+4 code,” offers significantly more detail on geographical differences in life expectancy...
Products | October 10th, 2019 Principal Offers Patent-Pending Complete Pension Solution It provides a technology-driven approach to pension risk management that can be tailored for individual plan needs alongside what the...
Administration | October 9th, 2019 Increase in Interest Rates Gives DB Plans a Boost in September Jessica Hart, with Northern Trust Asset Management, notes, “Even though the Fed cut rates by 25 bps, the average liability...
Administration | October 8th, 2019 Could GE Have Continued Its DB Benefits? GE is freezing pension plans and offering a lump-sum window to certain former employees, but John Lowell, with October Three,...
Compliance | October 7th, 2019 AT&T Sued Over Calculation of Early Retirement Benefits The plaintiffs say the plan’s terms reduce benefits using “Early Retirement Factors” and “Joint and Survivor Annuity Factors” which result...
Compliance | September 30th, 2019 PBGC Issues Proposed Rules About Benefit Payments The agency will consider payments prior to plan terminations when calculating benefits, and it proposed to change its assumptions for...
Compliance | September 20th, 2019 PBGC Releases New Forms Relating to ERISA Section 4062(e) In 2014, President Barack Obama signed into law major changes to Section 4062(e), which requires companies with defined benefit (DB)...
Compliance | September 20th, 2019 Funded Status Not a Good Measure for Whether DB Plan Participants Can Sue The U.S. Solicitor General and the Pension Rights Center have filed briefs with the Supreme Court for a fiduciary breach...
Administration | September 20th, 2019 Interest Rates a Factor for Crucial DB Valuation Decisions It’s time for many plan sponsors to determine what rate they will use to calculate unfunded vested benefits, and they...
Administration | September 9th, 2019 DB Plan Funding Takes a Hit From Record-Setting Low Interest Rates in August Pension plans that have invested in long bonds would have benefited, according to Northern Trust Asset Management, and Legal and...
Compliance | August 26th, 2019 Closed DB Plan Nondiscrimination Relief Extended Again The IRS anticipates that final regulations on closed DB plan nondiscrimination testing will not be published in time for plan...
Investing | August 14th, 2019 LDI 2.0 Defined benefit plan sponsors are branching out from the traditional equity/bond liability-driven investing (LDI) portfolio, adding diversification as well as...
Products | August 7th, 2019 Mercer, Club Vita Team Up to Offer ZIP Code Model for Longevity Honing in on each participant’s ZIP+4 code to capture a wealth of lifestyle information, and analyzing them alongside factors such...
Administration | July 24th, 2019 Sonoco Terminates DB Plan in Preparation for Risk Transfer Announcements by the company provide an example of common steps and the timeline for a pension risk transfer.