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Fiduciary Governance
The Department of Labor (DOL) on Halloween issued the latest iteration of a proposed rule defining who is an investment advice fiduciary for purposes of ERISA. As the initial dust settles, officials from the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) have offered some further insights...
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Funding of private-sector defined benefit plans has been a rising tide. But why? And what does it mean? Two industry experts offer their insights in a deeper dive.
The State of Things
“Funding levels for private sector pension plans are very healthy—most plans are fully funded or overfunded at...
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It will ensure that advice given to plan sponsors with respect to plan investments under any and all circumstances is required to comply with the fiduciary standards of ERISA.
The mission of the American Retirement Association—since it was founded in 1966—is to expand and strengthen the employer-...
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Ahead of today’s anticipated rollout of a new fiduciary rule, the Biden Administration has issued a fact sheet previewing its content—including an issue of long concern to the American Retirement Association.
The fact sheet focuses on the issue of conflicted advice, specifically calling out what...
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As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) has released a proposed rule defining who is an investment advice fiduciary for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The proposed rule, announced during a White House ceremony attended by President Biden on the afternoon of...
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After months of anticipation, the Department of Labor (DOL) will release a new version of its proposed fiduciary rule for public comment on Oct. 31.
The announcement will be made during a ceremony at the White House scheduled for 3:30 that afternoon. The President will attend, an indication of...
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A new proposed fiduciary rule will be coming “very soon,” according to Assistant Secretary of Labor Lisa Gomez. She was joined by Carol Weiser, Benefits Tax Counsel at the Department of the Treasury, at an Oct. 24 session of the 2023 ASPPA Annual conference at National Harbor, MD.
Issuing...
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A panel at the Oct. 22 opening session of the 2023 ASPPA Annual Conference expressed agreement with the notion of closing the coverage gap but also evinced great concern over the effect legislation that would create a federal retirement savings program could have on the private-sector retirement...
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Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series about service providers’ audits of clients and their plans. The first installment is here.
Audits may be a frightening and painful experience from the perspective of plan administrators and plan sponsors. But what does it look like from the...
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Oct. 15 has finally passed. A day even spookier than Halloween! Which explains all the treats in the kitchen area at work for those hard at work on their 5500s.
Let’s take a flashback to our May issue in which Tiffany Myers, Manager, Actuarial Services at the Cash Balance Center of Excellence,...
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An explanation and history of fiduciary liability insurance were among the topics addressed at the recent ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussion “Fiduciary Liability Insurance” featured Euclid Fiduciary’s Daniel Aronowitz, Sompo International’s Joe Kelly, and Marsh...
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The parties in a suit that claimed a $7.3 billion plan “stocked the Plan’s investment menu with their own proprietary index funds”—while “participants got the short end of the stick” have come to terms.
As it turns out, the plaintiffs in this case (are Rita Kohari, John Radolec and Mohani Jaikaran...
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For the second time in a month, a law firm has brought suit challenging the use of forfeitures in a 401(k) plan.
The lawyers are from Hayes Pawlenko LLP, a South Pasadena, CA-based duo (who met in law school, according to their website) positioning themselves as an employment litigation firm “...
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Service providers take care of the nuts and bolts and fine details of running a retirement plan. So what are plan sponsors looking for in a third party administrator? A recent blog entry offers a look.
In “10 Things to Look for in Retirement Plan Administration,” Kushner & Company suggests...
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Noting that "the settling parties agreed to the proposed settlement only after vigorous arm's-length negotiations between counsel experienced in ERISA class actions and under the auspices of … a third-party private mediator with extensive experience mediating ERISA actions”—the parties in yet...
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October is cybersecurity month, “something that pairs nicely with Oktoberfest,” American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff joked during a panel called “Fulfilling Cybersecurity Oversight Requirements” at the ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2.
It was a moment of levity in...
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Another federal judge has weighed the assertions made in an excessive fee suit—and found them lacking both in terms of a “meaningful benchmark,” and specificity of the claims made.
The Suit
The plaintiffs here—Jennifer R. Lard, John G. Juergens, Gerald L. Robinson, Scott W. Anderson, Thomas A....
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Many (if not most) defined contribution plan documents provide that the plan administrator may use forfeitures to reduce contributions, pay plan expenses, or allocate to participants as additional benefits.
In fact, the Treasury and IRS recently suggested that plans be drafted this way to avoid...
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Plaintiffs have had their appeal of a district court’s dismissal of their excessive fee suit rejected by the appellate court.
Appellants Cole Matney and Paul Watts[1]—participants in the Barrick Gold 401(k) plan—filed suit against Barrick Gold of North America, Inc., Barrick Gold’s Board of...
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Of course, laws and regulations, as well as fiduciary duty, spell responsibilities that must be fulfilled. But sometimes what one does not do is as important as what one does, an industry expert reminds.
It is helpful to not only know what to do but also what to avoid, argues Mark Olsen, Managing...
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