Client Service August 7, 2020

Four Things to Know About Changes to Employer Contributions

Advisers can play an important role in helping plan sponsors understand the options available to them, as well as the impact of making certain plan changes.
Reported by


The unsteady business climate resulting from COVID-19 has created uncertainty for employers and employees. Navigating these challenges while administering retirement plans has been stressful and often confusing for plan sponsors. 

Advisers play an important role in helping plan sponsors understand the options available to them, as well as the impact of making certain plan changes. Under normal circumstances, changes would be carefully considered and implemented pragmatically. In the current environment, swift action may be called for, but this doesn’t alleviate the need to remain legally compliant.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

Some employers may determine their companies are no longer able to fund employee retirement plan matches or other contributions due to business disruption or losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These decisions are not easily made, and employers must follow specific IRS requirements to suspend or reduce contributions properly. 

Plan advisers play a critical role in providing valuable insights to help their clients make decisions about their plans. Knowledge of Department of Labor (DOL) and IRS regulations is critical to help keep plans compliant and to guide administrators in making sound decisions for the plan and its participants. Furthermore, such knowledge provides wider insights on best practices for maintaining a healthy plan.

With all this in mind, the following are four important items to consider regarding changes to plans and contributions.

  1. Understand the Safe Harbor Contribution Rules. There are serious consequences for failing to make a safe harbor contribution or a promised matching contribution. In addition to jeopardizing the plan’s tax qualification, a plan sponsor could also be found to have engaged in a prohibited transaction or fiduciary breach.
  2. Notify Plan Participants Appropriately and Timely. Generally, reducing or eliminating 401(k) discretionary nonelective and discretionary matching contributions is a straightforward process that requires notifying plan participants, according to IRS guidelines. This type of change does not require a plan amendment.
  3. Make Sure You Meet Qualifying Conditions. Qualifying safe harbor plans may make a mid-year reduction or suspend employee contributions, though at least one of the following conditions must apply:
    1. The employer is operating at an economic loss, or the safe harbor notice provided before the start of the plan year included a statement the employer may reduce or suspend contributions mid-year;
    2. Eligible employees must be notified at least 30 days prior to the effective date of any change, and they must be allowed a reasonable period of time to change their deferral election prior to plan sponsors enacting the change; or
    3. The plan will also be required to complete actual deferral percentage (ADP)/actual contribution percentage (ACP) testing for the full plan year in which the reduction or suspension occurs.
  4. Match Contributions Prior to the Amendment Effective Date. For non-safe harbor mandatory matching contributions to be reduced or suspended, the matching contributions that are described in the plan document—such as a match of a percentage of an employee’s elective contributions—would require a plan amendment. Participant notification requirements apply, and the employer must match all participant contributions for the portion of the plan year prior to the amendment effective date.

Plans of all sizes are experiencing unprecedented changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, plan advisers play a critical role in helping to reduce the uncertainty of plan administration by providing valuable foresight and planning assistance for their clients. Understanding the nuanced rules related to plan administration during the COVID-19 era is not a one-time task. The regulations and client demands will be evolving well into 2021 and beyond.

Editor’s note:

Kristin Andreski is senior vice president and general manager of ADP Retirement Services.

This feature is to provide general information only, does not constitute legal or tax advice, and cannot be used or substituted for legal or tax advice. Any opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the stance of Institutional Shareholder Services or its affiliates.

Client Service August 6, 2020

Advisers Giving Back: Bruce Lanser at UBS

During and after his daughter’s career as an elite speed skater, Bruce Lanser at UBS has been volunteering his time to help the niche sport continue to thrive in the Milwaukee area. He also finds time to serve on the board of Junior Achievement.
Reported by

Art by Sonia Pulido


So far the Advisers Giving Back profile series has featured a range of charitable and philanthropic activities driven by leading advisers in the retirement plan services industry.

Some common themes have been focusing on financial literacy for young adults, assisting food banks and homeless outreach services, and providing international poverty relief and microeconomic development.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

Bruce Lanser’s story is perhaps the most unique, though it is just as meaningful in its own way. Lanser, who is a financial adviser and institutional retirement plan consultant with UBS in Milwaukee, gives his time as a “starter” official for speed skating events—including elite-level competitions featuring world-class athletes and Olympians. Starters, as the name implies, are responsible for getting skaters to the start line, beginning the race and keeping an eye out for any false starts when a skater moves too early or places their skates in the wrong position.

This is in addition to some 15 years spent on the board and various committees at Junior Achievement, a youth-focused organization that seeks to “ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.”

Lanser’s connection to speed skating comes through his daughter, Erica, and from the fact that it is a (relatively) popular sport in Milwaukee.

“Our daughter is why we got into this,” Lanser says. “She became a world-class skater and had a chance to skate all over the world herself. I should also mention that Milwaukee is a unique place in that speed skating is a part of the culture here, going back to the early 1900s. The club we were part of while she was skating has had someone on the Olympic team every year since the Winter Olympics were created.”

Lanser says the sport has obvious benefits in terms of physical fitness and character development for those who become elite athletes. But he also feels the sport benefits the broader community, including the many young athletes who eventually leave the sport to pursue other things.

“We have built this whole community of coaches, trainers and skaters of all ages who are being inspired,” Lanser says. “And you have officials like myself who get to volunteer and be involved. It’s very special.”

Lanser’s wife and fellow UBS financial adviser and retirement plan consultant, Bernadette, shares his enthusiasm and is also involved in the skating community. This is in addition to her longtime work at a local food bank, which will be the subject of a future Advisers Giving Back profile.

“For the athletes like our daughter and her peers, having access to this sport helped them to grow and mature as people,” she says. “Our daughter definitely had to deal with challenging situations and challenging people—you have to interact and work with people who don’t always share your same values. It’s interesting because it is an individual sport, and so those lessons are really instilled.”

The Lansers say skating—like any sport, really—teaches young people about what it means to have success and failure.

“It taught our daughter that she could accomplish what she wanted to accomplish and do so in a positive and constructive way,” Bernadette Lanser says. “It was so important that she learned to appreciate all those people who came to the rink and were there, giving their own time. I have to say that is probably the most rewarding thing our daughter got out of it—learning to recognize how much people were helping her and to be grateful for that.”

That realization is why Bruce Lanser continues to give his time back to the sport—in addition to his continued interest and enjoyment, of course.  

“I got involved because I recognized that I wanted to give back to this community of people who donated their time and effort in a way that benefited our daughter so much,” he explains. “Here in our region, people know about skating. They find my volunteering to be really interesting and they ask about where I have been and the experiences I have had. I wouldn’t say it has led to new business necessarily, but it is a part of my relationship with many clients. They remember it certainly and we will connect about it.”

Along with volunteering as a skating official, Lanser has spent 15 years on the board of Junior Achievement, including stints on the executive committee and as chairman of the investment committee.  

“I was chairman of the investment committee for about 10 years,” Lanser recalls. “I also served on the executive committee. During that time, we were making a lot of big decisions, including on staffing, salaries, benefits, etc. We had a major building project going on at the time, as well, so it was very dynamic. Now I am just on the board, so we get the committee reports and we ratify what they are doing.”

«