Keynote and Luncheon Presentations
.jpg) A New Day in the Sun: DC Plans in the 21st Century
Cynthia Hayes
Managing Director, Retirement Group
Merrill Lynch
We are entering a new era with the
passage of PPA and increased reliance
on DC plans as a primary program for retirement security.
As a result, plan sponsors are making critical decisions
related to plan design, investment menus, fee policies,
disclosures and communications to employees. Regulators
and legislators are focusing on ensuring the health and
fairness of these plans. Litigators are seeing opportunities
for high profile cases. Employees are seeking help and
advice as the boomers head for the next horizon of
retirement. This environment will have significant impact
for sponsors and participants. Keynote speaker Cynthia
Hayes provides a framework that assists plan sponsors as
they work through the issues towards positive outcomes.
 A Fully Funded Retirement—An American Dream
Patrick J. Kendall
Vice President and Defined Benefit Practice Leader
Diversified Investment Advisors
It’s one thing for employers to provide a competitive benefits package to attract and retain employees. It’s often very different to then talk about how an employee can achieve a fully funded retirement. Most participants want a secure retirement, and most know that saving is a good thing. But, most plan participants don’t connect the dots to achieve a solid understanding of what is involved in meeting the objective of a fully funded retirement. Pat Kendall offers a unique view of this dilemma and some thoughts for participants to use to reach their goals.
 Not Your Grandfather's Annuity: Perspectives on the Retirement Income Issue
Barbara Fallon-Walsh
Principal
Vanguard
As the first of the baby boomers reaches
62, plan sponsors are worried about how
to help retiring participants translate 401(k) lump sums into
a lifetime income. Traditional methods such as systematic
withdrawal plans or annuities are just the beginning. Now,
a new wave of innovative products is surfacing from
mutual funds that make regular, pension-like payments
to annuity products that provide guaranteed income and
access to savings. For plan sponsors, the challenge will not
be a lack of solutions, but how to help participants navigate
the emerging choices.
 Managing Retirement Plan Risk
in a Changing Environment
James V. Morris
Senior Vice President, Institutional Solutions
SEI Institutional Group
Regulatory actions and market forces
are dramatically changing the way
plan sponsors view risks associated with their DB and
DC programs. Based on his experience working with
hundreds of corporate retirement programs, Jim Morris
discusses developing trends and new approaches to risk
management for both DB and DC plans. Among these
are liability driven investing, the implications of regulatory
changes, revised strategies designed to minimize market
volatility and the expanded roster of responsibilities for
plan fiduciaries. In addition, Mr. Morris identifies how
companies can focus on the needs of plan participants
to maximize retirement income streams and explains
why companies are rapidly bringing increased levels of
investment sophistication to their DC programs.
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Avoiding Fiduciary Pitfalls in Today's Fast-Evolving Environment
Moderator: Mark E. Friedman, Conference Co-Chairman
Panelists: Howard Heller, Senior ERISA Compliance Analyst, T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc.; Robert A. Holcomb, Vice President, Legislative & Industry Affairs, JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services;
Sherwin S. Kaplan, Of Counsel, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP
The federal government’s legislative and regulatory activity over the past two years has created more changes for employer-sponsored
retirement plans than any law or regulation since ERISA. One thing, however, remains constant: the fiduciary
responsibility that you have as a plan sponsor to act solely in the interests of plan participants. While today’s “safe harbors”
sound appealing, none absolves you of your fiduciary obligations. Conference co-chairman Mark Friedman moderates a
discussion among ERISA experts who examine how provisions of PPA 2006, the DOL’s QDIA regulations and issues such
as plan fees can become fiduciary stumbling blocks. Changes intended to simplify and improve investment performance for
participants, such as adding target-date funds to your line-up, can lead to unseen fiduciary problems. Discover how to side-step
the hidden traps that can ensnare an unwary plan sponsor in class-action lawsuits or legal battles with regulators.
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Attend the Mid-Sized Retirement & Pension Plan Management Conference to get
your plan moving ahead in this new era of plan management.
Expert speakers help you make sense of all the latest issues. Speakers from top
plan providers and consultants, the DOL, leading law firms and academia shed
light on such issues as automatic 401(k) plan solutions, new QDIA regulations,
target-date funds, liability driven investing, plan fees and much more.
An agenda featuring 40+ sessions lets you decide which workshops are best
for you. You get to choose which issues are most relevant and important for your
plan and participants.
Based on real-world experiences, the conference provides ideas you can use
now. You will leave this conference with practical ideas you can instantly put to
use to improve your organization’s retirement program.
Network with your peers in the plan sponsor community. Registration is
restricted to plan sponsors so that the audience is primarily made up of people
like you. Take advantage of the opportunity to discuss problems, share ideas and
discover solutions.
Attendance provides you with an on-going resource. As an attendee, you are
entitled to a full year of unlimited online access to workshop presentations from
this and other Mid-Sized Retirement & Pension Plan Management Conferences.
It’s an educational resource you can turn to again and again.
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