IWS Documented News INTERNATIONAL

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Towers Watson

Press Release 26 May 2010

More Fortune 100 Companies Offering Account-Based Retirement Plans to New Salaried Employees, Towers Watson Analysis Finds

Shift Away From Traditional Pension Plans Continues

http://www.towerswatson.com/press/1956

NEW YORK, May 26, 2010 — The number of large U.S. companies that are replacing their traditional defined benefit (DB) plans with account-based retirement plans for new salaried employees continues to increase, according to a new analysis by Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW), a global professional services company. Account-based plans include defined contribution (DC) plans, such as 401(k) plans, and hybrid pension plans, typically cash balance plans.

According to the Towers Watson analysis, 58 companies in the Fortune 100 currently offer only a DC plan to new hires, compared with 55 companies at the end of last year and 51 companies at the end of 2008. The most recent findings include three companies that announced this year that they will switch from a hybrid plan to a DC-only plan and three companies that are converting from a traditional DB to a hybrid plan. Meanwhile, 17 companies continue to offer a traditional DB plan, a decline from 20 at the end of last year and 24 at the end of 2008.

AND MORE…including TABLE….

________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
****************************************