Paula Aven Gladych

More than a third of DC plan sponsors are unaware of their fiduciary responsibilities, and some are also confused about what qualifies as a QDIA.

It is safe to say that Ron Surz is passionate about retirement, particularly when it comes to target-date funds. Surz, president and CEO of San Clemente, Calif.-based Target Date Solutions, believes that too much risk is placed in TDFs, which have become the go-to default investment in many employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The funded status of the 100 largest corporate pensions dropped by $6 billion in March, increasing the deficit to $349 billion, according to the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

Rep. Joe Crowley, D-NY, vice chair of the Democratic Caucus, unveiled a plan this week that would address the savings and retirement security crisis in America by giving families better ways to save for the future and retire with dignity.

Employee retirement confidences levels have risen to their highest since the recession. And although confidence levels have jumped in recent years, many are still expecting to work further into their retirement years to make up for any unpreparedness.

Voya Financial, Inc. has hired a new CEO of retirement. Charles Nelson will join the company on May 1, overseeing tax-exempt and corporate markets and retail wealth management.

Financial experts say that people should try to replace 70%-80% of their current income in retirement, but current statistics suggest that employees need to make the right arrangements to do so.

The past year was not a good one for the top 100 corporate pensions, according to research by Towers Watson. Falling interest rates and increased liabilities from updated mortality assumptions combined in 2014 to eradicate most of the gains from the previous year, Towers Watson found. The average funded status of the Towers Watson Pension 100 fell from 89% to 81% in 2014, even though plan assets gained in value. One bright note was that plan sponsors…

The much-anticipated rule that provides a new definition of who is a fiduciary was released by DOL this week to much fanfare. And while most people agree there won’t be much impact on plan sponsors, there are passionate groups on both sides of the aisle fighting for or against this new proposal.

Employees and employers need to make sure their 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plan assets are in the right allocations for where they are in life, and that means revisiting those allocations on a regular basis.

Despite the best efforts of workplace-sponsored retirement plans and even the relatively positive status of Social Security, many baby boomers say they have lost confidence in their ability to live comfortably in retirement.

The Affordable Care Act has had one unintended consequence for small businesses. It has prompted employers to beef up their retirement benefits as a way to attract and retain good employees.

Employers around the world are pushing free transparency and seeking better investment outcomes for their workers, which is leading to a greater availability of low-cost investment options in employer-sponsored plans.

Modestly higher equity markets in the first quarter of 2015 were not enough to offset the effects of lower interest rates, resulting in lower pension funding ratios among U.S. defined benefit plans.

Designing the ultimate defined contribution plan isn’t just about the investments chosen to be in the plan. It is about strategy, a company’s mission and core values and the demographics of the workers being served by the plan.

Nobody is sure what the economy will do in 2015, but investment fund managers remain positive about investments in equities and alternative assets over the long-term.

Because employees aren't actively engaging in their retirement plans on a regular bases, a slight uptick has been seen in employers including managed account options in their workplace 401(k) and 403(b) plans.

Workers and retirees know what they should be doing to prepare for retirement but when it comes to action, neither group is prepared.

Defined contribution plans have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the retirement industry, representing $7 trillion of the $24 trillion in retirement system assets in 2014, and while private companies have been at the forefront of the change, but government entities are following suit, which means DC plans will become even more important in the years ahead.

Employers may want to take note of the qualifying longevity annuity contract rules that were put in place last year under the required minimum distribution rules of the Internal Revenue Code.