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1st Quarter 2001
Executive Summaries
Adopting Hybrid Pension Plans: Financial and Communication Issues 
by Robert L. Clark, John J. Haley and Sylvester J. Schieber This article provides a systematic framework for the evaluation of the movement toward hybrid pension plans by examining the reasons given by firms for converting their existing pension plans to hybrid plans, illustrating the impact of plan changes on expected pension benefits, and identifying winners and losers. Return to TopSurvey of Cash Balance Conversions
by Lawrence J. Sher By examining data on actual conversions to cash balance pension plans, the authors challenge the validity of major criticisms faced by employers sponsoring cash balance plans and their advisors. Their data admonish against using broad generalizations to assess the total impact on employers and employees of a conversion to a cash balance plan. Return to TopLegal Issues in Cash Balance Pension Plan Conversions
by Jonathan Barry Forman Replacing a traditional pension with a cash balance plan raises a number of complicated and unsettled legal issues, including the protection of accrued benefits, the rate of benefit accrual, age discrimination and notice requirements. This article discusses those issues and concludes that routine conversions to cash balance plans appear to be legal both currently and into the foreseeable future. Return to TopCash Balance Plans: Helping Employers Meet Today's Staffing Needs
by Stephen J. Hoeffner The author examines how cash balance plans better meet employers' staffing needs than traditional pension plans. He asserts that out-of-date pension laws, rather than employers, are responsible for creating the very "abuses" that so many are complaining about with regard to cash balance plan conversions. Return to TopCash Balance Pension Plans--Accounting and Business Implications
by Alex Arcady and Francine Mellors This article illustrates the accounting and disclosure implications of converting from traditional pensions to cash balance plans. That information is followed by a description of issues that have encouraged employers to initiate those conversions. Return to TopRate-of-Return Guarantees for Defined Contribution Plans
by John A. Turner This article explores the conceptual basis for an employer-backed minimum rate-of-return guarantee as an option under defined contribution plans. Expanding an earlier analysis, he presents a prototype model of how the guarantee would work and discusses how it might be used for a mandatory Social Security defined contribution plan. Return to TopThe Costs and Benefits of the Form 5500 Annual Report
by Mitchell Langbert The author suggests that although the Form 5500 annual report may help to reduce legal violations, it may do so in an unnecessarily expensive way that serves the economic interests of some professional groups. In particular, his investigation suggests that the CPA audit provides questionable benefits and amounts to a special interest group's extraction of rents through the regulatory process. Return to TopFull text copies of these articles are available through the INFOSOURCE™ Document Delivery Service. Article reprints are also available in quantities of 100 or more. For information, call the Publications Department at (888) 33-IFEBP. You can order your subscription (reprints and back issues) online. Four issues for $100 (or $75 for CEBS registrants). |
