Challenges and Opportunities for DC-Focused Advisors June 19, 2019 Key Findings Voya Investment Management in December 2018 refreshed its online survey of retirement plan sponsors and financial advisors focused on the retirement plan market. The original survey in 2016 was conducted to better understand the product, service and support preferences of plan sponsors, as well as to identify unmet needs and emerging opportunities. The study surveyed a ..read more

May 16, 2019 On April 10, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order related to “Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth.”  The executive order states that it is the policy of the United States to promote private investment in the Nation’s energy infrastructure.  The order directs a number of agencies, including the EPA and the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce to take various actions related to energy policy. Of relevance to retirement plans, the order directs the Department o ..read more

May 16, 2019 On April 25, 2019, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that among the bills House leadership intends to bring to the floor for a vote during May is the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019” (the SECURE Act).  As noted last month, the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously voted out the SECURE Act on April 2nd.  The SECURE Act combines elements of the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA), which passed the Senate Finance Committee unanimously in 2016, and th ..read more

May 16, 2019 On April 19, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Rev. Proc. 2019-19, a revised version of its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).  The revised procedures expand the existing correction program by: (1) describing new self-correction methods for certain loan failures; (2) newly permitting self-correction for certain plan document failures; and (3) newly permitting retroactive plan amendments to self-correct certain operational failures. Loan Failures.  Under the revised procedures, a ..read more

May 16, 2019 On April 29, 2019, at the request of Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Robert Casey (D-PA), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report examining various aspects of early withdrawals from retirement plans and IRAs.  Specifically, the report examines and reports on: (1) the incidence and amount of early withdrawals; (2) factors that might lead to early withdrawals; and (3) strategies and policies, if any, that might reduce the incidence and amoun ..read more

May 16, 2019 The ERISA Advisory Council (the Council) recently released its final reports following the Council’s study of two issues in 2018: (1) ways to promote lifetime income options within defined contribution (DC) plans, and (2) the effectiveness of existing Department of Labor (DOL) guidance regarding ERISA fidelity bonds.  A summary of the reports’ recommendations is provided below.  Each year, the Council chooses one or more issues to study and then submits its findings and recommendations to the DOL. The Council is ..read more

May 16, 2019 On March 29, 2019, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling striking down the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Association Health Plan (AHP) rule, which expanded the groups of employers that can join together in a single health plan. The ruling concludes that the expansion of the term “employer” under the AHP rule “fails to establish meaningful limits on the types of associations that may qualify to sponsor an ERISA plan, thereby violating Congress’s intent that only an employer ..read more

April 18, 2019 On March 5, 2019, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a Policy Statement announcing the procedures and conventions that they intend to follow regarding the issuance of regulatory and subregulatory guidance.  Although the Treasury Department and the IRS have emphasized that many of the issues addressed in the policy statement simply describe existing practices, the Policy Statement does provide some new insights into how the Trump Administration is likely to provide guidance i ..read more

April 18, 2019 House Ways and Means Committee Votes to Move Retirement Legislation Forward On April 2, 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee favorably voted out the "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019" (the "SECURE Act"). The SECURE Act combines elements of the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act ("RESA"), which passed the Senate Finance Committee unanimously in 2017, and the Family Savings Act ("FSA"), which passed the House of Representatives in late 2018, and a few additional provisio ..read more

April 18, 2019 On March 14, 2019, the House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets held a hearing entitled, “Putting Investors First?  Examining the SEC’s Best Interest Rule.” In connection with that hearing, the subcommittee released a discussion draft authored by subcommittee member Sean Casten (D-IL), which would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct investor testing when developing rules and regulations about disclosures.  Follo ..read more