Deals & People May 9, 2017

Prudential Retirement Names New CEO

An industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience will lead Prudential Financial’s retirement business.
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Phil Waldeck will serve as the president and chief executive officer of Prudential Retirement, a division of Prudential Financial, effective June 5. He succeeds Christine Marcks, who recently announced her decision to retire following more than 13 years of service, a decade of which was spent as president and CEO.

Waldeck has more than 30 years of industry experience behind him. He first came onboard Prudential in 2004 as part of the firm’s acquisition of Cigna’s retirement business. He currently leads Prudential Retirement’s Investment & Pension Solutions business, which had $185 billion in institutional investment products account values as of March 31, 2017. While at Prudential, he has spearheaded institutional product innovation efforts both domestically and internationally across the pension risk transfer, longevity reinsurance, structured settlements and stable value businesses. Under his leadership, Prudential led two major pension buy-outs with General Motors ($25 billion) and Verizon ($8 billion), as well as the nation’s first pension buy-in with Hickory Springs.  

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Before joining Prudential, Phil spent the first 20 years of his career in the full service recordkeeping business. He earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Tufts University and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He serves on the board of directors of the Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity, and is chair of Achieve Hartford. 

“Under Chris’s leadership, Prudential Retirement created a talent-centered, customer-focused culture that has inspired and created significant business growth and innovation, resulting in greater retirement security for a growing market,” says Steve Pelletier, chief operating officer of Prudential’s U.S. Businesses. “Phil is a passionate advocate for retirement security who will build on Prudential Retirement’s impressive momentum to address unmet financial needs for both institutions and individuals, including increased access to workplace benefit programs and deeper engagement with participants.” 

Yanela Frias will succeed Waldeck as head of Investment & Pension Solutions. Frias was most recently Prudential Retirement’s head of Structured Settlements. She also previously served as Prudential Annuities’ chief financial officer.

Compliance May 9, 2017

Remind 403(b) Plan Sponsor Clients to File Form 990

Losing tax-exempt status can affect the ability to offer 403(b) plans.
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The Internal Revenue Service today reminded tax-exempt organizations that many have a filing deadline for Form 990-series information returns in mid-May.

Form 990-series information returns and notices are due on the 15th day of the fifth month after an organization’s tax-year ends. Many organizations use the calendar year as their tax year, making May 15 the deadline to file for 2016.

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By law, organizations that fail to file annual reports for three consecutive years will see their federal tax exemptions automatically revoked as of the due date of the third year they are required to file. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 mandates that most tax-exempt organizations file annual Form 990-series information returns or notices with the IRS. The law, which went into effect at the beginning of 2007, also imposed a new annual filing requirement for small organizations. Churches and church-related organizations are not required to file annual reports.

Losing tax-exempt status can affect the ability to offer 403(b) plans. In 2014 and 2015, the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit conducted a project related to 403(b) plan sponsorship eligibility for organizations that lost their 501(c)(3) exempt status due to the automatic revocation for not filing a required return for three consecutive years. Some entities were unaware that their 501(c) status affected their eligibility to sponsor a 403(b) plan.

The IRS also urges tax-exempt organizations to file forms electronically to reduce the risk of inadvertently including Social Security numbers or other unnecessary personal information. Electronic filing also provides acknowledgement that the IRS has received the return and reduces normal processing time, making compliance with reporting and disclosure requirements easier.

The IRS offers an online search tool, Exempt Organizations Select Check, to help users more easily find key information about the federal tax status and filings of certain tax-exempt organizations, including whether organizations have had their federal tax exemptions automatically revoked. Organizations that have had their exemptions automatically revoked and wish to have that status reinstated must file an application and pay the appropriate user fee.

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