PODCAST: Recruiting and Retention: Can Your 401K Make a Difference?
A U.S. District Court judge threw out a case against Microsoft which claimed that the BlackRock LifePath Index Funds suite of target-date funds was an imprudent investment choice for their plan participants....more
Since late July, at least 10 lawsuits have been filed against large 401(k) plan sponsors that offer certain BlackRock Inc. target-date funds (TDF) among their investment options. In an unexpected pivot away from the 401(k)...more
I once worked with someone who told me that he put in100% of his 401(k) investments in a mid-cap fund because it was in the middle of the market. It’s absurd, but people do think that way....more
A Kentucky federal district court ruled that a participant in CommonSpirit Health’s 401(k) plan failed to state plausible claims for breach of fiduciary duty related to the fees and performance of actively managed target date...more
A target-date fund (TDF) could be an attractive investment alternative for a participant that can’t be bothered with allocating their account balance....more
In recent years, target retirement date funds (TDFs) have become a very popular investment option on participant-directed defined contribution plan investment lineups. But, as discussed in this LawFlash, as TDFs have grown in...more
It is a well-known fact that I don’t like Target Date Funds (TDFs). It springs from the market meltdown in 2008-2009 when it was realized that during a bear market, certain 2015-2020 funds had a huge exposure to equity....more
Eight years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued “tips” for retirement plan fiduciaries to consider when selecting and monitoring target date retirement funds (“TDFs”). At the time, the DOL noted that TDFs were...more
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) funds are a hot potato item as the Department of Labor (DOL) is giving a pushback because their current belief is that returns on investment mean most....more
On November 7, 2019, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert outlining its top compliance observations from examinations of nearly 300 registered funds conducted over a two-year...more
1. Cost is an overused consideration for picking plan providers, value and quality are underused. 2. Target benefit plans are the Boo Berry Cereal of retirement plans. You know they exist, but you rarely see them....more
As part of an analysis, Fidelity Investments compared average asset allocations of participants to an age-based Target Date Fund and they found that nearly a quarter (23%) of 401(k) savers still have a higher percentage of...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations on November 7, 2019 issued a Risk Alert in which the OCIE staff (Staff) discussed “the most often cited deficiencies and weaknesses”...more
On November 7, 2019, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published a Risk Alert highlighting the most often cited deficiencies and weaknesses observed in recent examinations of registered...more
I’m not a big fan of target-date funds and that bias goes back to the implosion of the stock market in 2008-2010, where I thought older workers didn’t realize that their target-date funds had so much equity exposure. I also...more
I wasn’t a fan of target-date funds when the markets crashed in 2008 because there was no consistency of investment objectives and equity-fixed income mix between target-date funds for a specific year among different fund...more
On this joint edition of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion and GovCon Perspectives podcasts, Brydon DeWitt is joined by special guest Carl Grund, a financial advisor with Signature Financial Partners in Tysons, Va. Brydon...more
When it comes to consumer products and food products, we have stringent labeling requirements. Products must have the contents to support that they are Made in the USA, organic, and juice in order to put that claim on their...more
Guidance addresses nondiscrimination, qualified default investment alternative, and annuity safe harbor rules. On October 24, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) each issued...more
On October 23 and 24, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued coordinated guidance on lifetime income provided through target date funds held by retirement plans. According to an...more
Last week, the IRS issued Notice 2014-66, providing a special rule that allows defined contribution pension plans to give participants a lifetime annuity income option by offering target date funds ("TDFs") that include...more