Year: 2012
Information Request Letters
July 12, 2012
The employee benefit plan audit season is in full gear now and, if not already started, your employee benefit plan audit is most likely around the corner.
I don’t want to grow up, I want to be a small plan!
July 05, 2012
Practitioners in the retirement plan industry are well aware of the fact that most small plans don’t have to undergo an audit by an independent qualified public accountant, while large plans do.
But I hired you to audit THIS year…
June 28, 2012
Following in his father’s footsteps, Art Vandelay has worked hard to expand the reach of his pizza chain across the whole state of Delaware…
Limited Scope Audits: Worthless or Worthwhile?
June 21, 2012
Limited scope audits exclude investment values from the scope of the audit if the assets are held at a regulated financial institution such as…
New Disclosures Required for Employers Participating in Multiemployer Benefit Plans
June 14, 2012
By Michael Mast, CPA – Underfunded defined benefit plans have always been a concern, but the Great Recession magnified the underfunded status of many plans.
Sorting Out the Alphabet Soup of Mutual Fund Share Classes
June 07, 2012
By Christopher CIminera – The 408(b)(2) disclosure buzz has awakened many plan officials to the fact that different share classes can affect their plan investments’ returns.
Well, What Do We Do Now?
May 31, 2012
Posted by Saaib Uppal In my blog post titled Mind Watching My Stuff for a Minute? I went over how to go about finding a participant who is unresponsive to communications from the plan fiduciary. As I mentioned, to terminate a plan, a sponsor must distribute all account balances. But, what if the plan sponsor seems to be searching … Continued
Be Wary of Hard-To-Value Investments in Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts
May 17, 2012
Posted by Michelle J. Cross, CPA A court recently fined a plan sponsor over $35 million for breach of fiduciary trust by causing employees to pay excessive fees in their 401(k) accounts. You may be thinking to yourself, “Wow, they must have been stealing from the plan!” They weren’t. But they did do something wrong…they … Continued
Mind Watching My Stuff for a Minute?
May 10, 2012
Posted by Saaib Uppal Any Seinfeld fan out there would remember an episode in which a tourist asked George Costanza to watch over his bag for a minute. George agreed and then stood there as the man disappeared. Unable to wait because the man was taking a long time to return, George decided to just … Continued
“Can You Hear Me Now?” – Part II: Summary Plan Description and Summary of Material Modifications – Electronic Delivery
May 03, 2012
Posted by Christopher Ciminera In last week’s blog I drew a parallel between Verizon’s network coverage and communications of the retirement plan provisions through a Summary Plan Description (SPD) and Summary of Material Modifications (SMM). This week I will go into further detail on how to provide these communications electronically. The analogy to Verizon’s network coverage is still applicable since … Continued