PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
La Reforma Pensional en Colombia
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
Multiemployer Pension Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE 2.0 Act - Navigating New Retirement Plan Provisions in 2024 - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Qualified Plans — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Virginia Launches New Retirement Savings Program
People who didn’t sponsor a plan or weren’t involved in the retirement plan industry before 2012, think some 401(k) industry veterans like myself, are part of some multiverse when we talk about life before fee disclosure. The...more
Fee disclosure regulations and a whole bunch of excess fee settlements in litigation have curbed excessive fees. So ERISA litigators, especially on the low end, are trying to. find angles for litigation....more
Since 2012 with fee disclosure regulations, we have seen 401(k) fee compression and the latest 401(k) Averages Book shows that it’s continuing....more
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed what to do if you inadvertently failed to enroll someone in your 401(k) plan. In this month’s Compliance Check, we focus on the variety of typical notices that are...more
For the past 9 1/2 years, fee disclosure has certainly helped you as a plan sponsor to finally understand the true cost of plan administration. That’s important because you have a fiduciary duty to only pay reasonable plan...more
In Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-03 (12/31/21) (FAB), the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance and temporary enforcement policy to address the new 408(b)(2) disclosure requirements that apply to certain service...more
The one drawback in the fee disclosure regulations was that the Department of Labor (DOL) never bothered to develop a model fee disclosure form for plan providers, I understand the hesitancy of the DOL because it’s hard to...more
The beauty of fee disclosure regulations and technological breakthroughs is that 401(k) fees have been sliding. Even 9 years after the promulgations of the fee disclosure regulations, it’s still sliding....more
When I was younger, I was a pessimist. Everything to me, like a bad grade in Civil Procedure I was the end of the world and I realized eventually, that it wasn’t. I learned optimism is easier to manage than pessimism....more
As an ERISA attorney, my retainer agreements are pretty straight and clear. Governed by the laws that govern attorney behavior, I have no choice. Yet, Third Party Administrators (TPAs) don’t have guidelines to live by. ...more
Buried in the year-end Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) is a provision that requires group health plan brokers and consultants to make comprehensive fee disclosures similar to those that apply to retirement plans. As...more
Being a long time plan provider for a client can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. While having a long time base of clients is great for business and indicative of client satisfaction, it can be a bad thing too....more
I'm a big fan of business history when it comes to brilliant business moves, as well as some pretty awful ones. In terms of bad business decisions, I always find it amusing when I can spot one when it's made and I could see...more
When fee disclosure regulations came into being by the Department of Labor (DOL) in 2012, so many detractors of it said it would cause plan sponsors to terminate their plans and there would be a race to zero in fees. The...more
While every large 401(k) plan is a target for a class-action lawsuit over costs, I believe the years of litigation and fee disclosure regulations will exhaust the number of class-action lawsuits, as well as courts taking a...more
When I was at law school at American University Washington College of Law, I was the Executive Editor of The American Jurist, which was the student newsmagazine for my final year of law school. I wasn’t a particularly fond...more
When fee disclosure regulations were promulgated in 2012, you could see the changes a mile away. While some chicken littles thought the sky was falling, I knew it would lead to a more competitive marketplace and there would...more
According to a report from Reuters, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is exploring a sale of its retirement services division, which has about $175 billion of assets under management and administration....more
Years ago, a lot of financial advisors weren’t aware of their role as a retirement plan advisor when it came to handling their plan sponsor clients. Most advisors were mailing it in, pocketing the quarterly fee without...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has finally issued final regulations providing a new “notice and access” safe harbor for retirement plans to furnish required disclosures by email or other electronic ways to plan participants...more
When fee disclosure regulations were implemented, there were a few industry chicken littles that suggested that the disclosures would be a race to zero and only the cheapest providers would win out. History has proven that...more
The non-ERISA §403(b) space is the last bastion of high, hidden costs in retirement plans. That’s the problem when a plan isn’t covered under ERISA and the fee disclosure regulations. So when it comes to 403(b) plans for...more
For the past 7 years, fee disclosure has certainly helped you as a plan sponsor to finally understand the true cost of plan administration. That’s important because you have a fiduciary duty to only pay reasonable plan...more
A long time in a galaxy, far far away (the time before fee disclosure regulations), I talked to the top salesman of a certain third-party administration (TPA) firm that charged an asset-based fee. The TPA wasn’t a producing...more
For my first year of law school, I had a renowned criminal law professor. He had a penchant for ties and an odd love for Melrose Place (I was a Dallas guy myself). For his final law exam, the fact pattern for the final exam...more