Participants Regain $1.4 Billon Thanks to EBSA’s Interventions

The largest category of plan money recovery was from enforcement actions.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, the arm of the Department of Labor that oversees private employee benefit plans, recovered $1.4 billion through various programs, for fiscal year 2022.

The amount restored has been declining for the past few years. In FY 2021, EBSA recovered $2.4 billion, and in FY 2020, a record $3.1 billion for plan participants.

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The bulk of the money, $931 million, was regained through enforcement actions and investigations. Some $542 million was given to terminated vested defined benefit plan participants. EBSA closed 907 civil investigations this year, with 595 of those cases resulting in monetary results for plans or other corrective actions. There were 103 indictments related to EBSA enforcement.

The Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, which allows fiduciaries to self-correct their errors if certain conditions apply, recovered $8 million. This represents the sharpest proportional drop, on comparing the avenues through which the agency recovers money, from fiscal 2021, when $34 million was regained through the VFCP.

The DOL recently proposed simplifying the VFCP to allow for after-the-fact notification rather than requiring an application, provided the error was small and resulted from a participant’s contributions not being invested or loan repayments not posted in a timely manner.

EBSA also collected $83.9 million from the Abandoned Plan Program, which distributes benefits to participants when a plan is appropriately terminated, and $422.1 million from informal complaint resolutions, typically made after a participant reports a problem with his plan, via the agency’s toll-free number, 866-444-3272.

Morningstar Launches Platform to Compare, Sell Annuities

The investment research firm has built the Annuity Intelligence Center for advisers amid a boom in the insurance product due to higher interest rates and retirement income demand.


Morningstar has launched a platform for advisers to compare and manage annuities for their clients, the investment research firm said Tuesday.

The Annuity Intelligence Center seeks to simplify annuity sales and management for advisers by offering a comparison tool, educational material and product accessibility. Morningstar is partnering on the offering with Luma Financial Technologies, an Ohio-based fintech company with a platform for broker/dealer firms to buy and sell annuities—long-term investment options issued by insurance companies—as well as alternative investments.

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“Assets in annuities are climbing, and while these vehicles are growing in popularity, the annuity marketplace remains opaque, and advisers serving investors have difficulty evaluating their options,” Jeff Schwantz, global head of channel partnerships at Morningstar, said in a press release.

Morningstar launched the platform into a booming market for annuities, which have been breaking records this year as fixed-rate deferred and fixed indexed annuities are yielding stronger returns due to higher interest rates, according to insurance association LIMRA. There are also strong signs of demand for retirement income options, as well as a ramping-up of education offerings for advisers related to in-plan annuity options. Recent Invesco research shows that 94% of participants in a workplace retirement plan would like a lifetime income option.

While retail annuity sales have been booming, in-plan annuities for workplace sponsored plans have been slow to gain traction, according to recent PLANADVISER reporting. Morningstar’s platform is designed for retail annuity sales and management and not in-plan annuities, a spokesperson said via email.

The Annuity Intelligence Center is designed to provide a single solution for all annuity product types, including variable annuities, fixed index annuities and registered index-linked annuities. The platform is also designed to encompass the entire annuity workflow, from training and research to order entry and lifecycle management.

Luma’s technology supports a breadth of annuity contract coverage, according to Morningstar, which allows advisers to customize and personalize client offerings. Users can compare annuity features, including rates and expense requirements, and income and value projections based on specific preferences or settings.

The Annuity Intelligence Center is integrated into and accessible via Morningstar’s web-based platform for financial professionals, Morningstar Advisor Workstation. Cost for access to the platform varies depending on client needs, a spokesperson said.

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