Quarterly News Winter 2019

Dear Colleague:

Getting employees to participate in retirement plans is no light undertaking. Much time and effort is spent at many companies in employee enrollment meetings and education sessions. Yet, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, typically, in any given year, only half of eligible employees participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. In this issue we look at how plan design can be used to boost participant engagement.

Plan sponsors are increasing their focus on participant outcomes when it comes to fine-tuning and managing their retirement plans. A recent study by Fidelity Investments* that delved deeper into plan sponsor attitudes, revealed several interesting plan sponsor perspectives that we explore in this issue.

Annually millions of dollars in retirement plan distribution checks go unclaimed because plan participants or beneficiaries never cashed the checks sent to them by plan sponsors. However, as fiduciaries, plan sponsors need to have procedures in place to handle uncashed distribution checks or risk penalties. We take a look at proactive steps that can be taken to manage this process.

Lastly, we update you on the latest ABG news and review important compliance deadlines. We hope you find this issue informative. As always, your ABG representative is available to answer any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Thomas E. Seitz
CEO
Pension Corporation of America
Member of the Alliance Benefit Group, LLC.