Hello NAGDCA Members,

It has been a great start to the year at NAGDCA, and we have so much happening I want to use this letter to make sure you don’t miss any of it.

First, it’s hard to believe, but our Annual Conference speaker submissions are closed. Thank you to all of you who offered to participate in the event. The Annual Conference Committee is hard at work picking speakers, choosing the location of our Tuesday night event, and solidifying all the little details that make our week together in September so special. Registration opens in April, so be sure to sign up early and get our reduced pricing.

While speaker submissions have closed, our Leadership Award submissions are still open. You all are doing great work, and you deserve to be recognized for it. We have many different categories available for all the excellent things you may have done – so don’t be shy! We especially encourage our smaller members to submit a nomination package. Our Awards Committee considers the resource constraints our smaller members may be under as you develop your programs, so don’t count yourself out.

We have also changed the criteria for our most prestigious awards – The Art Caple President’s Award. Instead of selecting from our Leadership Award winners, the Caple Award will now be a separate submission. Importantly, the Committee wants to recognize projects that may have taken longer than one year. If you are really proud of your work – and you all should be! – consider submitting your plan when nominations open in April.

Finally, I was very encouraged by the enthusiasm for the Fees Guide we developed last year. We will be coming out with an addition to the guide that addresses float income very soon, so be on the lookout for that. We are also creating guides on investments and governance that will be coming out this year. These are part of an effort to provide you with foundational information in essential areas in the industry.

So, like I said, we have lot going on we’re excited to share with you. I encourage you to get involved, and if you have any thoughts about what we could be doing better, we would love to hear from you.

All the Best,

Matt Petersen
Executive Director

By Diana McDonald, Groom Law Group

Even though lawmakers in Washington have been primarily focused on government appropriations and foreign affairs so far this year, there are a few developments to report on:

  • On March 8, the Department of Labor sent a final fiduciary rule to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for review. OMB’s review is the final step in the rulemaking process and typically takes 60-90 days. It is likely that changes were made to the proposal in light of the 19,000 comments DOL received, but those details will not be publicly available until DOL publishes the rule after OMB’s review is complete. Although governmental plans will not be subject to these rules, they may impact the operation of service providers providing services to governmental plans.
  • On March 8, the House passed the Expanding Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2799), a securities bill, by a party-line vote of 212-205. The legislation was amended on the House floor to include language to permit 403(b) retirement plans to invest in collective investment trusts (“CITs”) and certain insurance company separate accounts. The amendment passed 301-125 (all Republicans and 87 Democrats in support, all other Democrats opposed). The White House had issued a statement in opposition to the overall bill in the days leading up to the vote. The House-passed bill is expected to face headwinds in the Democratically-controlled Senate. SECURE 2.0 had included language clarifying that 403(b) plans can invest in CITs without negatively impacting the CIT’s tax status, but it did not include the necessary securities law amendments. NAGDCA is keeping a close eye on this issue and will update members if and when meaningful developments occur.
  • The Biden Administration has issued guidance to promote the adoption of pension-linked emergency savings accounts (“PLESAs”). First, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2024-22 to clarify the anti-abuse rules applicable to PLESAs under the Internal Revenue Code. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Labor issued a series of Frequently Asked Questions to explain some of the requirements applicable to PLESAs under ERISA. Importantly, the guidance did not specifically address questions about whether governmental plans are permitted to offer PLESAs. For an in-depth explanation of both pieces of guidance, read the Groom alert found here.
  • SECURE 2.0 technical corrections are coming…sometime. Congress is typically less productive in election years, and this year is shaping up to be no exception. There are roughly 40 weeks remaining in the year as of this writing, but Congress will only be in session for 20 of them as members spend time back in their districts campaigning. Staff believes the technical corrections need to be included in a larger tax bill, but the options this year are likely to be slim. However, there are often attempts to pass tax and other legislation in a post-election, lame-duck session.

LEADERSHIP AWARD NOMINATIONS DUE APRIL 19 

Don’t miss the chance to nominate your plan for a 2024 NAGDCA Leadership Award. The annual program recognizes public sector defined contribution retirement plans and industry partners who have demonstrated excellence in one of five categories

Click here to learn more and submit a nomination before the deadline on April 19!

SAVE THE DATE FOR #NAGDCA24

Mark your calendar today for the 2024 NAGDCA Annual Conference September 15-18 in Phoenix! The event is an opportunity for you to build a national network of plan sponsors and industry representatives, share ideas with peers, learn innovative techniques for improving retirement outcomes, and much more.

Click here to visit the event page to learn about the event. Registration will open in April!

PRRL REPORT & BENCHMARKING PORTAL

The recently released 2022 PRRL report is based on year-end 2021 participant- and plan-level data submitted by PRRL participants representing 226 plans, $165 billion in plan assets, and over 2.9 million individual plan participants.

Plans participating in PRRL also receive access to an interactive benchmarking tool. This tool allows users to drill deeper into the data and use multiple filters to create customized data aggregations.

Click here to download the report and to learn more about the benchmarking portal.