Pensions

Plan Sponsor Article: Ensuring Clean Participant Data

"One of the most critical aspects in maintaining a healthy retirement plan is guaranteeing clean participant data, says John Bikus, president of PBI Research Services, a provider of death audit and location services. Having correct Social Security numbers and dates for critical life points, including birth and retirement, is integral to identifying missing and deceased participants, Bikus says. He points out that defined benefit (DB) plan overpayments, such as to a deceased participant, also [...]

John Bikus2023-06-16T09:58:59-05:00August 16th, 2021|Data Cleansing & Cleanup, News, Pensions|

In the News: PBI Research Services Says it’s Saved Companies $100M by Finding Deaths

Minneapolis-based PBI Research Services started a program that aggregates death information from roughly 26,000 sources to make sure benefits are being properly released. PBI says it's saved its customers about $100 million within the past 18 months in overpayments and erroneous payments because its program, called CertiDeath®, captures 95% of the deaths in the United States. Read the full Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article written by Patrick Rehkamp here: https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2021/06/16/pbi-research-says-its-saved-100m.html?b=1623845660%5E21920527

John Bikus2023-06-16T10:07:28-05:00June 18th, 2021|Death Audit & CertiDeath, News, Pensions|

PBI Press Release: CertiDeath® Saves Over $100 Million in Overpayments to Deceased Pension Participants

MINNEAPOLIS, June 8, 2021 -- PBI Research Services, the leading death audit provider, announced its flagship product, CertiDeath®, has resulted in over $100 million of savings for clients. CertiDeath, the industry's only advanced death audit solution, has experienced 200% year-over-year client growth as it reduces overpayments to deceased pension plan participants. CertiDeath eliminates the work, complexity, and uncertainty now associated with identifying deaths, saving companies the time spent manually reviewing obituaries and helping avoid overpayments due [...]

John Bikus2023-06-16T10:21:28-05:00June 8th, 2021|Death Audit & CertiDeath, News, Pensions|

Locating Beneficiaries of Deceased Participants

Maintaining updated Plan Participant Records to ensure Fiduciary Compliance Recent guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) addresses fiduciary and enforcement issues related to missing and non-responsive retirement plan participants. A key best practices category highlighted by the DOL is maintaining accurate census information for the plan’s participant population including spousal and beneficiary information. What happens if a participant is deceased and census records – in particular, spouse/beneficiary information – are incomplete [...]

John Bikus2024-04-26T14:45:51-05:00January 26th, 2021|Beneficiaries & BeneSearch, Locating Missing Participants, Pensions|

The Art of Locating Participants and Beneficiaries

The difference between comprehensive Locate services and simple data updates. Pension plan professionals – plan sponsors, trustees, administrators, etc. – have a fiduciary responsibility, actually a requirement, to conduct diligent searches for participants and beneficiaries. There are various methods to doing this. Knowing the difference will not only help ensure you are meeting your fiduciary obligations; but, will also best prepare you for any possible regulatory reviews or audits (DOL/IRS). The most inexpensive and [...]

John Bikus2023-06-16T11:12:20-05:00December 2nd, 2020|Beneficiaries & BeneSearch, Locating Missing Participants, Pensions|