Pension De-Risking for Employee Benefit Sponsors: Minimizing Risks and Ensuring ERISA Compliance When Transferring Pension Obligations to Other Parties

Click to register for a January 16, 2013 webinar entitled "Pension De-Risking for Employee Benefit Sponsors: Minimizing Risks and Ensuring ERISA Compliance When Transferring Pension Obligations to Other Parties." Sponsored by Strafford Publications, this Continuing Legal Education ("CLE") webinar will provide benefits counsel with a review of pension de-risking approaches used by companies to reduce some of the risks involved with employee retirement benefits. The panel will offer best practices for leveraging the precautions to prevent ERISA fiduciary law violations when making transfers.

Description

As U.S. pension plans face record deficits, options for transferring some or all of a sponsor's plan risk make sense for many companies. General Motors, NCR and Verizon are a few companies that have chosen de-risking options in 2012.

De-risking transactions take many forms, from transferring company obligations to third parties, to offering payouts to plan participants, to undertaking liability-driven investing and other strategies. Counsel and companies must tread carefully to avoid ERISA-based litigation or enforcement actions.

Prudent de-risking requires thorough financial analysis and clear demonstrations that fiduciary standards under ERISA are met. Counsel should guide companies on how to establish the reasonableness of decisions and prepare to defend against possible court challenges.

Listen as our panel of experienced employee benefit practitioners provides guidance on precautions for companies undertaking transfers of pension plan obligations to third parties or other de-risking options. The panel will outline best practices for assembling a thorough financial review, complying with ERISA requirements, and responding to potential legal challenges from plan participants.

Outline

1. De-risking overview
   1. Current trends
   2. Different approaches
      1. Transfers to third parties
      2. Lump sum payouts for participants
      3. Investment strategies
2. Procedural prudence
   1. Financials
   2. Government filings and participant notifications
   3. Meeting ERISA fiduciary requirements
      1. Prudence
      2. Care
      3. Loyalty
3. Potential challenges from plan participants
   1. Grounds for challenges
   2. Likelihood of success

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

• What kind of financial reviews are needed to support a de-risking transaction?
• How can pension providers demonstrate they have met their ERISA standards of prudence, care and loyalty to plan participants?
• What steps should be taken in preparation for termination of a pension plan?

Following the speaker presentations, you'll have an opportunity to get answers to your specific questions during the interactive Q&A.

Faculty

Susan Mangiero, Managing Director
FTI Consulting, New York

She has provided testimony before the ERISA Advisory Council, the OECD and the International Organization of Pension Supervisors as well as offered expert testimony and behind-the-scenes forensic analysis, calculation of damages and rebuttal report commentary for various investment governance, investment performance, fiduciary breach, prudence, risk and valuation matters.

Nancy G. Ross, Partner
McDermott Will & Emery, Chicago

She focuses her practice primarily on the area of employee benefits class action litigation and counseling under ERISA. She has extensive experience in counseling and representing employers, boards of directors, plan fiduciaries, and trustees in matters concerning pension and welfare benefit plans. Her experience includes representation of pension plans, ESOPs, trustees and employers.

Anthony A. Dreyspool, Senior Managing Director
Brock Fiduciary Services, New York

He specializes in the investment of assets of ERISA-covered employee benefit plans and all aspects of ERISA fiduciary law compliance.  He has more than 30 years of experience with respect to ERISA matters and has substantial knowledge in the structuring and formation of private real estate and equity funds for the institutional investment market.

Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/PensionRiskMatters/~3/GBARUg0SG9o/

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