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| Who gets YOUR vote for our new Chancellor (assuming you had a vote)? |
| Martin Hall, deputy vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Robert C. Holub, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee |
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46% |
[ 13 ] |
| Harris Pastides, VP for research and health sciences at the University of South Carolina and executive director of the University of South Carolina Research Foundation |
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7% |
[ 2 ] |
| Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Buffalo |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Travis Ford |
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10% |
[ 3 ] |
| Toot Cahoon |
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7% |
[ 2 ] |
| Greg Cannella |
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7% |
[ 2 ] |
| Don Brown |
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3% |
[ 1 ] |
| Sam the Minuteman |
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17% |
[ 5 ] |
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| Total Votes : 28 |
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LeBlanc88 Junior
Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 437
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Jack Hall of Fame
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 3030
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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like the right choice of the candidates presented.
SM: Defined Benefit Pensions are not as rare as you might think. They are still fairly common in certain sectors such as financial services and they are very effective in retaining talent and thus lowering the substantial operational expenditures incurred when talent is consistently leaving and having to be replaced. |
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shovelhd Hall of Fame
Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 4694 Location: Western MA
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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| True, but many financial services companies are doing everything they can to phase them out. At least the one I used to work for. |
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Jack Hall of Fame
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 3030
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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| And many aren't, at least the ones I've worked for. I'm aware of the trend but in financial services Its considered a gold std. benefit of a good company if they want to compete for top talent. |
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Crank Senior

Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Berkshire Expatriate in MetroWest
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 12:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Jack wrote: | | And many aren't, at least the ones I've worked for. I'm aware of the trend but in financial services Its considered a gold std. benefit of a good company if they want to compete for top talent. |
The high costs of such plans are rapidly putting this notion on the back burner. My former employer, a Boston based national financial services heavyweight (and leading retirement benefit service provider) recently terminated their DB plan. Working in the industry, the overwhelming trend is to terminate these plans or convert them to less expensive cash-balance plans. |
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SamIam Sophomore
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 168
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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On behalf of all past and present Sams, thank you for your votes.
Mascot turned Chancellor... hmm. _________________ UMass Pride. |
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InnervisionsUMASS Hall of Fame

Joined: 04 Apr 2003 Posts: 16396 Location: Milford, MA
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Where is the John V Lombardi option? |
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UMass87 Hall of Fame
Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 7335
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Crank wrote: | | Jack wrote: | | And many aren't, at least the ones I've worked for. I'm aware of the trend but in financial services Its considered a gold std. benefit of a good company if they want to compete for top talent. |
The high costs of such plans are rapidly putting this notion on the back burner. My former employer, a Boston based national financial services heavyweight (and leading retirement benefit service provider) recently terminated their DB plan. Working in the industry, the overwhelming trend is to terminate these plans or convert them to less expensive cash-balance plans. |
Having worked for an institutional money management firm (where most of the AUM was from defined benefit plans) for nearly a decade I can say with authority that the number of defined benefit plans has been decreasing for years and will almost certainly continue to do so. Government workers will be the only ones with such plans in a decade. Generous 401k matching and profit sharing is far more attractive to younger financial services employees - it is portable and certainly the best of your employees are savvy enough to manage their funds. In my plan, I had access to essentially everything except leveraged positions (e.g. I could sell covered calls). |
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Jack Hall of Fame
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 3030
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| UMass87 wrote: | | Crank wrote: | | Jack wrote: | | And many aren't, at least the ones I've worked for. I'm aware of the trend but in financial services Its considered a gold std. benefit of a good company if they want to compete for top talent. |
The high costs of such plans are rapidly putting this notion on the back burner. My former employer, a Boston based national financial services heavyweight (and leading retirement benefit service provider) recently terminated their DB plan. Working in the industry, the overwhelming trend is to terminate these plans or convert them to less expensive cash-balance plans. |
Having worked for an institutional money management firm (where most of the AUM was from defined benefit plans) for nearly a decade I can say with authority that the number of defined benefit plans has been decreasing for years and will almost certainly continue to do so. Government workers will be the only ones with such plans in a decade. Generous 401k matching and profit sharing is far more attractive to younger financial services employees - it is portable and certainly the best of your employees are savvy enough to manage their funds. In my plan, I had access to essentially everything except leveraged positions (e.g. I could sell covered calls). |
There is no doubt that DB plans are decreasing - however they are far from rare and in fact they remain a major selling point (in conjunction with a generous 401K match) for attracting and retaining talent. This remains especially true in the mutuals which don't offer profit sharing. I'll take a 401K plan + a DB plan that will pay me 80% of my biggest 3 yrs up against any of the 401K only plans I've seen. Certainly you might do well - but you you also might do poorly. In the DB plan that won't happen - more security - but it usually takes 20 yrs of employment to fully vest. The best situation is the generous 401K + the DB - the opportunity to get the benefit of the tax free status, the market and compound interest + the security of knowing you are going to get 80% of your highest salary when you retire.
The reason companies moved away from DB is because it is a far more generous benefit to the retiree. Plain and simple. Its an excellent benefit if you are fortunate enough to work for a company that values long term committment by talented employees. |
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SignMan Hall of Fame

Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 3189
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Crank Senior

Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Berkshire Expatriate in MetroWest
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:09 am Post subject: |
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Alright people, I come here to get away from my job for a while and we're suddenly talking ERISA plans...MAKE IT STOP!!!  |
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Jack Hall of Fame
Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 3030
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:25 am Post subject: |
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| you're right - Holub looks like he best of the lot - still not clear to me why we had to go through this whole exercise when we had Lombardi - should have kept him. |
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InnervisionsUMASS Hall of Fame

Joined: 04 Apr 2003 Posts: 16396 Location: Milford, MA
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: |
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| Jack wrote: | | you're right - Holub looks like he best of the lot - still not clear to me why we had to go through this whole exercise when we had Lombardi - should have kept him. |
You can thank Jack Wilson for the Vox. |
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twisters tavern Junior

Joined: 21 Nov 2003 Posts: 603
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:44 am Post subject: |
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| Jack wrote: | | UMass87 wrote: | | Crank wrote: | | Jack wrote: | | And many aren't, at least the ones I've worked for. I'm aware of the trend but in financial services Its considered a gold std. benefit of a good company if they want to compete for top talent. |
The high costs of such plans are rapidly putting this notion on the back burner. My former employer, a Boston based national financial services heavyweight (and leading retirement benefit service provider) recently terminated their DB plan. Working in the industry, the overwhelming trend is to terminate these plans or convert them to less expensive cash-balance plans. |
Having worked for an institutional money management firm (where most of the AUM was from defined benefit plans) for nearly a decade I can say with authority that the number of defined benefit plans has been decreasing for years and will almost certainly continue to do so. Government workers will be the only ones with such plans in a decade. Generous 401k matching and profit sharing is far more attractive to younger financial services employees - it is portable and certainly the best of your employees are savvy enough to manage their funds. In my plan, I had access to essentially everything except leveraged positions (e.g. I could sell covered calls). |
There is no doubt that DB plans are decreasing - however they are far from rare and in fact they remain a major selling point (in conjunction with a generous 401K match) for attracting and retaining talent. This remains especially true in the mutuals which don't offer profit sharing. I'll take a 401K plan + a DB plan that will pay me 80% of my biggest 3 yrs up against any of the 401K only plans I've seen. Certainly you might do well - but you you also might do poorly. In the DB plan that won't happen - more security - but it usually takes 20 yrs of employment to fully vest. The best situation is the generous 401K + the DB - the opportunity to get the benefit of the tax free status, the market and compound interest + the security of knowing you are going to get 80% of your highest salary when you retire.
The reason companies moved away from DB is because it is a far more generous benefit to the retiree. Plain and simple. Its an excellent benefit if you are fortunate enough to work for a company that values long term committment by talented employees. |
The onerous provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 for both single employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans will most certainly speed up the death of defined benefit plans. |
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npt3 Senior

Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 1353 Location: North of Boston, south of NH.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:57 am Post subject: |
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God please, no more talk about pensions! I'd sooner talk about IP addresses...  _________________ "All life we work, but work is a bore. If life's for living, what's living for?" - Ray Davies |
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