What is the ERISA Advisory Council? An Interview with Andrea Sellars and Julie Curtis
By Patrick Ring
Retirement Section News, July 2021
Editor’s Note: Andrea Sellars, FSA, retired from Buck Consultants, a Xerox Company, where she served as the senior managing director responsible for Buck Consultants’ Research, Survey and Knowledge Management group. Andrea has more than 40 years of experience in employee benefits and actuarial consulting serving corporate and public retirement plans. She currently serves on the SOA's Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks, the Retirement Section Research Committee, and the DOL’s ERISA Advisory Council.
Julie Curtis, FSA, was director of Actuarial Services at The Boeing Company for nearly 30 years, where she oversaw the actuarial aspects of the company's pension and retiree health plans. She is now retired and currently serves on the SOA Board of Directors and on the Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council.
Section 512 of ERISA provides for the establishment of an Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council (Council). The Council plays a vital role in maintaining the wellbeing of retirement and welfare plans by bringing real life experiences and recommendations to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) within the Department of Labor (DOL).
I am pleased to interview Andrea Sellars and Julie Curtis who are current members of the Council representing the actuarial field and general public, respectively. In this interview, they provide insights into the operations of the Council, identify the issues to be addressed by the Council in 2021, and reflect on how the Council experience has impacted their professional lives.
Patrick Ring (PR): How does the ERISA Council operate?
Andrea Sellers (AS)/Julie Curtis (JC): The Council has 15 members. Five members are appointed each year by the Secretary of Labor, and each member serves for a three-year period. The Council members, as specified in ERISA, are chosen to represent specific disciplines and constituencies within the ERISA community. They represent a broad spectrum of people and entities who are affected by employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans. Appointees include members who represent employers, employee organizations (such as unions), accountants, investment managers, investment counseling, insurance, corporate trustees, actuaries, and the general public (including retirees). Andrea represents actuarial counseling, and Julie represents the general public and retirees.
Every year, the DOL identifies issues that are of particular interest to them, EBSA and/or the general public, and the Council decides which two or three topics they would like to explore. The Council chairperson then assigns an issue team (a subset) of the Council to work on each of the topics. The issue team drafts the scope of their research and presents it to the full Council for their approval. The Council seeks background information, experiences, observations, concerns, advice, and recommendations from the broad spectrum of witnesses who have experience and/or may be affected by the issues being addressed that year. The issue team recruits witnesses from various interested parties including agencies, professions, educational institutions, and companies, to testify about these issues.
The Council then reviews the testimony, conducts any additional research that would be helpful in drafting recommendations for the DOL, and writes a report detailing the issues, the findings, and Council recommendations.
With the exception of a few administrative meetings and issue team (less than a quorum) sessions, all Council meetings are open to the public, and the public is able to comment. Meeting minutes, witness testimony, and the reports with their underlying research are also available to the public.
PR: How does the Council choose issues to address?
AS/JC: Early each year, senior members of the DOL and EBSA share issues that are of interest to them and that they would like the Council to explore in detail. Members of the general public also propose issues. Council members may also raise issues. The DOL winnows the issues to between four and six and eventually the Council votes to decide which two or three to explore. The decision and vote are public.
The Council is careful to be sure that the issues they address fall within the scope of DOL’s work. The issues do not deal with legislation or regulations that fall outside the scope of the DOL’s authority or solely within the scope of other agencies, such as the Treasury Department. Some issues may indirectly touch upon areas addressed by other agencies. One example is a topic addressed last year: how to identify and protect plan participants who suffer from diminished capacity due to potential fraud or inadvertent poor decisions. Other government agencies such as the Social Security Administration have experience and guidance that the DOL would find useful.
PR: What issues did the Council address during last year and what were the recommendations?
AS/JC: Last year, the Council addressed the issue of diminished capacity as described above, and suggested a series of education and outreach pieces with guidelines that could be made available to plan participants, administrators, trustees, and plan sponsors. The issue report can be found at: Considerations for Recognizing and Addressing Participants With Diminished Capacity
The second issue dealt with Top Hat plans: did the current minimal reporting requirements need to be modified and was the employee coverage for these plans too broadly defined? The Council noted that much of the existing guidance was about 30 years old and recommended in its report that some of the reporting requirements be updated, that the risks associated with these plans be disclosed to participants and that the DOL further examine potential changes to the definition of eligible employees. The issue report can be found at: Examining Top Hat Plan Participation and Reporting.
PR: What issues will the Council address this year?
AS/JC: This year, the Council decided on two issues:
- Gaps in Retirement Savings Based on Race, Ethnicity and Gender; and
- Understanding Brokerage Window Structures in Participant Directed Retirement Plans
The Issue Scope descriptions are posted on the EBSA website at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/about-us/erisa-advisory-council.
PR: What is the role of witnesses and how are they chosen?
AS/JC: The Council seeks interested parties, knowledge experts and experienced individuals or organizations who can shed light on or have a connection to the topic. The more experience and the more diversity of outlook, type of connection, and profession the witnesses provide, the more robust the analysis and recommendations that will follow.
PR: How is the work of the Council used?
AS/JC: We are happy to say that EBSA and the DOL examine the reports closely and often base future projects, education and guidance on the report findings and recommendations. We are also happy to say that many of our actuarial colleagues have gone before us and their work on the Council has had a positive impact on our ERISA community.
PR: How can actuaries serve on the Council?
AS: There are many ways that actuaries can serve on the ERISA Advisory Council, and I encourage all of our actuarial colleagues to explore ways they can contribute to the effort. It is very important that we are at the table, and the more the better! The law requires at least one member represent actuarial counseling. But, there are many other positions on the Council in which actuaries are employed, and where they can serve as experts in their fields, including those who work for insurance companies, plan sponsors, investment companies, record-keepers, unions, and, as Julie does, in the general public. So, I encourage all of our colleagues to consider service on the ERISA Advisory Council. Each member must receive nominations by and recommendations from other colleagues and/or can self-nominate with others’ recommendations.
JC: ERISA requires that at least one member of the Council represents actuarial counseling. Andrea serves as the representative currently. Shout out to Andrea—she also chaired the work group that developed last year’s report on diminished capacity and did an outstanding job leading.
I am a representative for the general public—the other role that an actuary may take as a Council member.
Any actuary who is interested can be nominated during the DOL’s annual nomination process. Andrea’s position representing actuarial counseling, my position representing the general public, and three other positions will become vacant at the end of 2021. Nominations to fill those positions are being accepted this summer. The nominations notice, and more details can be found at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/about-us/erisa-advisory-council. Ultimately, the appointments are made by the Secretary of Labor.
PR: In closing, how has your experience on the Council impacted your professional life?
AS: As a retired Actuary, with over 40 years of retirement consulting experience, I was nominated by prior members of the Council and former colleagues, clients and business associates. I can share that the nominations themselves were an honor. This is the time in my “career’ when I can use my experience and knowledge to give back to my profession and my ERISA community, and I have been thrilled to serve. The professionalism, knowledge and expertise of all of the Council members is exemplary, and, I think for actuaries in earlier stages in their career, the relationships you form on the Council and with the staff of the DOL and EBSA, cannot be replicated in any other forum. As mentioned earlier, I encourage your interest and participation.
This is the last year of my three-year term, and in July the DOL will be seeking an Actuarial Counseling and four other new members for the 2022 through 2024 term.
JC: The depth and breadth of knowledge held by my fellow Council members and by the people we work with at the DOL/EBSA is remarkable. At times, it is intimidating. Even though I have worked with pension plans for decades, the Council discussions and research teach me new and valuable things every time we meet. Working on the Council has broadened my horizons immeasurably.
Patrick Ring, ASA, volunteers as a member of the SOA Retirement Section Council’s Communications Team. In addition, he assists the SOA in fine-tuning and optimizing the Retirement Section’s web page on SOA.org. He can be reached at pringactuary@gmail.com.