Dow Corning Corp., Midland, Mich., hired Vanguard Group to replace T. Rowe Price as record keeper of its Employees' Capital Accumulation 401(k) plan.
There will be no changes to the plan's basic design or in employer and employee contributions, said Mike Conway, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, in a March letter to plan participants on the silicone producer's website. The transition will take place in May.
After a review of the CAP's investment options, the company decided to eliminate the PIMCO Total Return institutional mutual fund from the lineup because it “does not meet the requirements for the CAP,” an online employee newsletter said. Assets from the Pacific Investment Management Co. fund will be transferred to the Northern Trust Aggregate Bond Index Fund, an existing option.
Mr. Conway did not return a call seeking more information about the 401(k) plan changes and the reasons for the record-keeper change.
However, Dow Corning's most recent Form 5500 filing for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013, showed that plan assets totaled $1.3 billion. The plan offered 18 investment options, including the PIMCO fund, and a self-directed brokerage window. Ten of the options are target-date funds managed by Northern Trust Global Asset Management. The mutual funds and collective trusts that will be retained in the move to Vanguard Group are managed by AllianceBernstein, State Street Global Advisors and Wellington Management, the filing showed.
