Nevin & Fred

Nevin Adams
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Nevin & Fred Podcast

Irreverent, but relevant. Nevin Adams and Fred Reish offer listeners their perspectives on all things retirement.

  1. 28 AUG

    Season 4, Episode 11: Stop—and Go? The Fiduciary Rule & Forfeiture Suits

    The so-called fiduciary rule has been stayed—and legal challenges regarding forfeiture reallocation are picking up.  Nevin & Fred discuss what you should be doing…now. About a month ago two separate federal judges put a hold on the effective date (09/23) of the Labor Department’s new fiduciary rule—indefinitely.  n ordering the stay, United States District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle explained that “the 2024 Fiduciary Rule suffers from many of the same problems” that were found in the version vacated by the Fifth Circuit back in 2018. On the other (unrelated) hand, the number of suits alleging a fiduciary breach in the use of forfeitures to offset employer contributions is increasing—and most recently those charges have been appended to the more “traditional” excessive fee suits.  That, and a couple of the original group have now gotten past the motion to dismiss.      In light of those trends, what should plan fiduciaries do?  In this podcast episode, Nevin & Fred will discuss the trends, the issues, the implications, and some next steps. Episode Resources: Staff Bulletin: Standards of Conduct for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Account Recommendations for Retail Investors  https://www.sec.gov/tm/iabd-staff-bulletin Fiduciary Rule Federal Judge Slams Brakes on Fiduciary Rule  https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/breaking-news-federal-judge-slams-brakes-fiduciary-rule Another Federal Court Slams Fiduciary Rule  https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/another-federal-court-slams-fiduciary-rule Department of Labor Releases Final Investment Advice Fiduciary Rule  https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/breaking-department-labor-releases-final-investment-advice-fiduciary-rule Forfeiture Reallocation Litigation Major Forfeiture Fiduciary Breach Suit Gets Green Light https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/major-forfeiture-fiduciary-breach-suit-gets-green-light Another Excessive Fee Suit (Also) Claims Forfeiture Use a Fiduciary Breach  https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/another-excessive-fee-suit-also-claims-forfeiture-use-fiduciary-breach Nordstrom Nailed With Massive Allegations in 401(k) Fiduciary Breach Suit https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/nordstrom-nailed-massive-allegations-401k-fiduciary-breach-suit Future Live Appearances: Strategic Retirement Partners:  https://www.srpretire.com/ ASPPA Annual:  https://asppaannual.org/ NAPA 401(k) Summit:  https://napasummit.org

    24 min

  2. 30 JUL

    Season 4, Episode 10: The Demise of Deference

    With far-reaching implications—likely including the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule—the nation’s highest court has set aside a long-standing judicial deference to federal regulators in interpreting the law.  In this episode Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) consider the impact(s). While the full implications will take time to emerge, it’s almost certainly going to produce more litigation, and in the process, less certainty for advisors, plan sponsors and recordkeepers trying to operate within those boundaries. Why It Matters Since 1984, courts have adopted a review framework for challenged regulations. First, to consider whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue—specifically how the regulation is to be administered/applied—and if so, the court "must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress and reverse an agency's interpretation that fails to conform to the statutory text.” And then, if the statute is ambiguous, the court “may not disturb an agency rule unless it is, 'arbitrary or capricious in substance, or manifestly contrary to the statute.’” Under the new Supreme Court decision, those administrative agency perspectives can, but do not have to, be considered in deciding the case. In sum, courts will no longer be required to defer to the judgement of the regulatory agencies in terms of applying/interpreting ambiguous laws.

    31 min

  3. 9 JUL

    Season 4, Episode 9: SECURE 2.0 Choices and Savings Trends

    The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 included dozens of new OPTIONAL plan design choices for plan sponsors. Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) explore the findings of a new survey of which plan design choices plan sponsors are most likely to adopt. To gain a better understanding of which optional provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act plan sponsors are most likely to adopt, Fidelity Investments recently invited more than 2,000 clients to participate in a survey, and from that derived the top-five-ranked optional provisions.  In this episode, Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) talk about those options—and THEIR favorites. In this episode we also talk about some of the big defined contribution plan trends captured in Vanguard’s annual How America Saves report—things like the growth of automatic savings features; higher participation and savings rates; expansion of Roth availability; and trends in target-date funds, advice and managed accounts. If you’re looking to know what’s going on—and what’s coming up—you won’t want to miss this episode of Nevin & Fred!

    35 min

  4. 18 JUN

    Season 4, Episode 8: Forfeitures, Managed Accounts and a "New" Fiduciary Rule Challenge

    In this episode, Nevin & Fred discuss new lawsuits regarding fiduciary breaches on the use of plan forfeitures, a managed account default – and the Labor Department’s new fiduciary rule. In late May a motion to dismiss the suit in one of the half-dozen (and counting) suits challenging the use of plan forfeitures to reduce employer contributions was itself dismissed, with a federal judge deciding that the plaintiffs had made a plausible case to proceed.  Also in late May, participant-plaintiff Debra Hanigan claimed that the plan fiduciaries of the $5.1 billion Bechtel Trust and Thrift Plan “breached their fiduciary duty of prudence to Plaintiff and other Plan participants, causing tens of millions of dollars of harm to Plaintiff and Class Member’s retirement accounts” – by defaulting participant investments into a managed account option that she claimed was nothing more than an expensive target-date fund. And then in late April, the Labor Department’s new Retirement Security Rule (generally referred to as the fiduciary rule) got its first challenge in Federal Court.  Claiming that the rule was “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious,” the suit seeks “preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent the DOL from attempting to enforce these unlawful rules and regulations.”  Whew!

    34 min

  5. 29 MAY

    Season 4, Episode 7: The Fiduciary Rule—Here We Go Again

    In late April the Department of Labor (DOL) released the Retirement Security Rule, generally referred to as the “fiduciary rule.”  Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) take a look at what’s changed —what hasn’t—and what it all means for retirement plan advisors. This now-final rule updates and broadens the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).  In this new podcast episode, the prolific podcasting pair ponder: The impact(s) to retirement plan advisors who are already ERISA fiduciaries, and compliant with PTE 2020-02, How the five-part test has changed, The implications of the so-called “Hire Me” exception, What changes to the “regular basis” criteria mean to the “drive-by” plan sale to plan sponsors.

    29 min

  6. 3 MAY

    Season 4, Episode 6: Live from Music City - Part 2

    On April 7, 2024, Nevin (Adams) & Fred (Reish) took their popular podcasting platform on the road to Nashville, Tennessee, for a live version at the NAPA 401(k) Summit—in the middle of a solar eclipse! In the second part of an expanded session, the prolific podcasting pair pointed to some takeaways from recent litigation trends including: The importance of fiduciary training  New Fiduciary Suits, TDF Demographics and a Prudent Process Primer | National Association of Plan Advisors (napa-net.org) The meaning of “meaningful benchmarks” Lack of ‘Meaningful Benchmark’ Bounces (Another) 401(k) Excessive Fee Suit | National Association of Plan Advisors (napa-net.org) Not to mention some predilections and predictions about the pending popularity and proclivities of pooled employer plans (PEPs).  PEPs Will Match Single Employer Plan Adoption in 5 to 10 Years: Fred | National Association of Plan Advisors (napa-net.org)

    21 min

  7. 1 MAY

    Season 4, Episode 5: Live from Music City

    On April 7, 2024, Nevin (Adams) & Fred (Reish) took their popular podcasting platform on the road to Nashville, Tennessee, for a live version at the NAPA 401(k) Summit—in the middle of a solar eclipse! During an expanded session, the prolific podcasting pair pointed to some takeaways from recent litigation trends including: Why it’s important to know/read your plan document (forfeiture reallocation suits); Why you may not need an investment policy statement (but should have an investment policy and an engaged committee);   How participant demographics could (should?) influence your target-date fund selection.

    31 min

  8. 2 APR

    Season 4, Episode 4: Could a Predominant PEPs Prediction Prove Positive?

    In a recent article on NAPA-Net, Fred Reish opined that PEPs—pooled employer plans—would come to dominate new plan adoption in the next five to 10 years. In this episode, Nevin (Adams) and Fred explore that possibility. To make his case, Fred posed a counter-intuitive argument, supposing that if we had started with a PEP architecture—one in which most of the liability (and decisions and administrative work) was left to others—and holding forth an opinion that if we HAD started there, would plan sponsors have ever wanted to take on that “extra” work and liability.  Well, regardless of what you think about that premise, the reality is that we didn’t, and that might well change the outcome—or will it? In this episode Nevin & Fred will talk about PEPs’ prospects, the possibilities, the potential problems, and more.

    30 min
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About

Irreverent, but relevant. Nevin Adams and Fred Reish offer listeners their perspectives on all things retirement.

Information

  • Creator
    Nevin Adams
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2024
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Nevin Adams
  • Show Website
    Nevin & Fred

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