The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is amending its
regulations to adjust the penalties provided for in sections 4071 and
4302 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The
regulations being amended are those for Penalties for Failure to Provide
Certain Notices or Other Material Information (29 CFR part 4071) and
Penalties for Failure to Provide Certain Multiemployer Plan Notices (29
CFR part 4302). Conforming amendments are also being made to the
regulations on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting (29
CFR part 4010) and Termination of Single-Employer Plans (29 CFR part
4041).
PBGC says its legal authority for this action comes from
the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 as amended
by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act
of 2015 and from sections 4002(b)(3), 4071, and 4302 of ERISA.
The
new maximum amounts are $2,063 for section 4071 penalties and $275 for
section 4302 penalties. The amendments are effective August 1, 2016.
Guardian moves to expand investment flexibility with new options;
Northern Trust enhances solution for fair value leveling through collaboration
with Interactive Data; Nuveen Asset
Management introduces pension liability matching indexes with Wilshire.
Guardian Expands Investment Flexibility with New
Options
The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company this week
revealed 21 new investment options being added to The Guardian Choice lineup of
retirement products, alongside an additional 26 options for The Guardian Advantage
lineup.
According to the firm, the significant rollout of new investment options “increase the
breadth of asset classes available for plan sponsors utilizing these products
to fund their qualified retirement plans.” The additions include the American
Funds Target Date Retirement Series, and offerings from other fund families
including American Century and T. Rowe Price.
In the alternatives market segment, Guardian is adding
exposure to natural resources, utilities and sector funds from Dreyfus and
Franklin Templeton. According to Guardian, these new offerings increase
the total number of funds available in The Guardian Choiceto 150
and in The Guardian Advantage to 129.
Douglas Dubitsky, vice president of product management at
Guardian, says the firm will continue its push into new retirement funding
vehicles that “allow plan sponsors to select from a diverse and flexible
investment line-up suited to meet the needs of their plan participants.”
NEXT: Northern Trust
Partners to Boost Fixed-Income Transparency
Northern Trust Collaborates
with Interactive Data
Northern Trust announced a new collaboration with
Interactive Data (IDC) to enhance its support for fair value level
determination for fixed-income securities.
The firm explains the collaboration will help clients “satisfy
fair value disclosure requirements prescribed within IFRS 13, FASB ASC 820,
GASB 72, UK FRS 102, and other accounting guidance."
Through the use of Interactive Data’s Vantage program, a web
application that provides in-depth market information and sophisticated
workflow tools, Northern Trust says it can now “deliver improved transparency
to evaluated prices for most fixed-income assets.”
In addition to improving data transparency, Northern Trust says
it is “working to provide information that makes it easier for clients to
manage the asset leveling process and reduce associated costs.” Presented as
the Fair Value Toolkit, Northern Trust services under the collaboration can
offer suggested fair value levels, detailed pricing inputs, flexibility in
assigning fair value levels, and options for categorizing assets in accordance
with financial statement presentations.
Clients with complex portfolios will benefit from fully
outsourced support through Northern Trust’s Valuation Support Services, the
firm explains.
“With IDC’s Vantage, Northern Trust’s clients receive access
to more than 40 fixed-income valuation inputs … including bid/ask prices, bid
spread, comparable bond inputs, trading volumes, use of single-broker quotes, a
market depth indicator that provides insight into the amount of data available
for an asset, and points of market color per issue and issuer,” the firm
explains. “In addition, Northern Trust staff helps establish client-specific
fair value leveling criteria; identify market inactivity and other factors that
impact fair value levels; streamline testing performed by auditors; and coordinate
pricing vendor inquiries.”
NEXT: New Indexes
Support Pension Liability Matching
Nuveen Asset
Management Introduces DC Liability Matching Indexes
Nuveen Asset Management, an investment affiliate of TIAA
Global Asset Management, launched four new indexes “powered by Wilshire” that
are designed to effectively match corporate pension liabilities.
The four indexes, Nuveen Wilshire Intermediate (5-10)
Corporate Bond, Nuveen Wilshire Long (10-20) Corporate Bond, Nuveen Wilshire
Long (20-30) Corporate Bond and the Nuveen Wilshire Ultra Long (20+) STRIPS,
have each been “designed with pension liability-matching in mind, but also for
simplicity and cost-effectiveness.” Combined, they seek to provide performance
benchmarking, economic liability measurement and an effective investment
de-risking solution.
David Wilson, managing director and head of institutional solutions
for Nuveen Asset Management, says the indexes were produced to “meet the clear need
for a simpler and more effective de-risking solution.”
“We are pleased to align with the Wilshire Analytics’ index
team to offer this family of customized indexes as their reputation as leaders
in the indexing space complements our own expertise in crafting successful
pension solutions,” he adds. “We worked closely to develop these customized
tools, which we believe will enable plan sponsors of all sizes to effectively
match their liabilities while enhancing yield potential.”
Wilson says the investment solutions associated with the
indexes “should allow customized allocations that closely match both the
overall and partial durations of any traditional corporate defined benefit
pension liability without the need for derivatives. Furthermore, splitting up
the long end of the corporate bond universe into two components helps to
increase the yield of the de-risking solution.”