Products January 13, 2015

West Texas Adviser Affiliates with PlanMember Securities

Becoming a PlanMember Financial Center allows for the expansion of retirement investment planning and financial education opportunities for educators and employees of non-profits.
Reported by

Shane Hall Financial has partnered with PlanMember Securities Corporation as a PlanMember Financial Center. The affiliation expands retirement investment planning and financial education opportunities for educators and employees of non-profits in the West Texas Region.

PlanMember is a national broker/dealer, investment adviser, and member of FINRA/SIPC. With $6 billion in assets, the company provides retirement planning to the public education and non-profit sectors, and specializes in the fee-based 403(b), 457(b), and 401(k) marketplace.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANSPONSOR NEWSDash daily newsletter.

By affiliating with PlanMember as a Financial Center, independent advisers can access the support resources and market access of a national company, while still maintaining their local identity. The national company currently upholds 27 Financial Centers.

Shane Hall Financial advises educators and support staff in West Texas school districts about their Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) pensions, optional retirement plans, and social security. With 15 years’ experience, the company maintains more than $60 million of assets under management. Advisers are approved by the TRS of Texas, through PlanMember and other agreements.

“I began my career as an adviser with PlanMember in 2000, but our recent affiliation as a PlanMember Financial Center opens up new opportunities for us to provide expanded services and products to our clients,” says Shane Hall of Shane Hall Financial. “Drawing on the resources of a top-rated national company while keeping our local presence will open doors to new opportunities and help us build new relationships in the education community in West Texas.”

Compliance January 13, 2015

PBGC to Begin Requesting Pension Risk Transfer Information

The PBGC is revising its premium filing procedures to require reporting of pension risk transfer actions.
Reported by

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) says it is revising the 2015 premium filing procedures and instructions to require after-the-fact reporting of certain defined benefit plan risk transfers through lump-sum windows and annuity purchases. The announcement was made in a request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval filed in the Federal Register.   

The agency explains that risk transfers can substantially reduce the premiums plans otherwise would pay to the PBGC, and because premiums and the investment income earned on them are a major source of income for the agency, information about risk transfers is critical to its ability to assess its future financial condition. There is currently no available comprehensive, detailed, and reliable source for information about risk transfers.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.

In September 2014, the PBGC gave public notice that it intended to submit the revised procedures and instructions to OMB for review. The agency said it received nine comment letters from representatives of employers, pension practitioners, annuity providers, and participants that focused almost exclusively on the new risk transfer items.

In its comment letter, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) said plan sponsors can increase the strength and longevity of their DB plans through a variety of de-risking methods, and the PBGC, accordingly, should support the efforts of companies that continue to sponsor and/or administer defined benefit plans.

The agency said it has made changes to the revised premium filing items (both the questions and the instructions) in response to some of the comments. It is requesting comments on the revisions, to be submitted by February 11, 2015.

The new PBGC Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate, Constance Donovan, earlier this month released her first annual report of issues, in which she said: “[P]ension de-risking may be the greatest threat to PBGC’s single-employer program, as it has the potential to substantially reduce PBGC’s premium base.”

«