How Sponsors Can Harness DC Plan Data for Better Outcomes
View Their Paper Conceived as supplements to pension plans, defined contribution (DC) plans have taken center stage in the retirement industry. That has led stakeholders (i.e., plan sponsors, consultants, investment managers, and policymakers) to continue to push for an evolution of the core investment menu. Much of the discussion about DC plan design has focused […]
What You Need to Know About the SECURE Act
The most substantial legislation affecting retirement since the Pension Protection Act of 2006 became law recently. Known as the SECURE Act (for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement).
IRS Provides Further Tailwinds to Open MEPs
The IRS has released proposed regulations that would relax the existing “bad apple rule,” which has been one of several impediments to open multi-employer plans (MEPs), which are defined contribution (DC) plans shared by more than one employer. The bad apple rule stipulates that the tax-qualified status of all the plans within an MEP could be revoked […]
Regulation Moves to Expand MEPs
President Trump issued an executive order in August directing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to examine policies that expand the circumstances where employers, especially small- and mid-sized businesses, may sponsor or adopt a multi-employer plan (MEP) as a workplace retirement savings option, subject to appropriate safeguards. In response, the DOL issued a proposed regulation on October 23 […]
Choices for the ‘Distribution Phase’ of DC Plans
View Our Paper It may be hard to believe, but the 401(k)—the most popular type of defined contribution (DC) plan—turned 40 this year. Up to now, the retirement industry has focused on improving the “accumulation phase” of DC plans. But as DC plans enter middle age, the retirement industry should start thinking more about the […]
Diversification: Where’s My Free Lunch?
Much of asset allocation work rests on the back of modern portfolio theory, which asserts that diversification stands as the lone “free lunch” offered up by the market gods. But in reality, the ascent of target date funds (largely built on modern portfolio theory) since the passage of the Pension Protection Act in 2006 has […]