Employee benefits

To avoid breach of fiduciary duty claims in the future, retirement plan sponsors need to reexamine the investment policy statement for their 401(k) plans to make sure they are doing enough to make sure workers’ retirement funds are invested in the lowest fee and best investments possible.

Commentary: The employer-based retirement plan model has been full of flaws for years, and this ruling is a step in the right direction.

Commentary: Supreme Court decision yields universal agreement that fiduciary duty is an ongoing responsibility, affirms four best practices for plan advisers to follow.

Although legal experts are unanimously proclaiming that SCOTUS' ruling in Tibble will significantly expand 401(k) plan litigation, one expert shares his doubts.

There’s no surprise retirement readiness is a top concern among small employers, with their employees are most at risk – a conversation that took center stage when President Barack Obama unveiled the “MyRA” initiative for employers last year.

Commentary: Smart brokers provide awesome service, killer expertise and modern technology solutions that can compete with any online platform.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Monday that could have far-reaching implications for how long a retirement plan participant has to sue an employer for breach of fiduciary duty in a 401(k) plan.

For many benefits professionals, the different private exchange offerings and the varied value propositions they present can be overwhelming. So let’s take a step back and examine the issues one at a time.

The U.S. Supreme Court said 401(k) plans have a duty to monitor the investment options they offer, in a ruling that may help investors press lawsuits over underperforming funds and excessive fees.

Commentary: Such tools stimulate enhanced benefits administration for corporate clients, particularly within these four aspects of coverage.

Commentary: Countless conversations with brokers struggling with 6055 and 6056 concerns show many find their applicable large employer clients are challenged to find practical solution for this reporting, says EmployeeTech’s Michael Weiskirch.

A bipartisan bill recently introduced in the House and Senate would require employer-sponsored retirement plans to provide participants with an estimate of how much lifetime income they could expect from their current savings.

Commentary: A few months ago, two major announcements were made in the retirement plan space that profoundly affected retirement plan sponsors and participants.

The Affordable Care Act’s Small Business Health Options Program will not succeed without the broker community, the heads of three state-run exchanges said at a HIX policy conference.

The Department of Labor is giving the financial services industry and consumer advocates more time to comment on its controversial fiduciary conflict-of-interest rule proposal.

If employees are not well prepared for retirement it should be a major concern for both employees and their employers, experts say.

Commentary: At the end of an unsuccessful enrollment campaign, an adviser may wonder why participation was so low after they spent time and money on communications. It’s simple, says David Melton: Brokers employing the same old strategy will not succeed.

Only 10% of some 480 employers in 36 industries responding to a recent poll have implemented an in-house or outsourced solution to comply with Affordable Care Act reporting requirements.

Does giving employees multiple choices of health plans drive competition and empower them pick plans offering the greatest value and highest quality care –the theory underlying the Affordable Care Act and many employers’ benefit plan designs?

Whether participating in private exchanges or not, some say similar programs have been in place for decades, pointing to the government’s 50-year-old Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan as early example of what many employers are dealing with today.