ERISA states that every plan document must identify a “Named Fiduciary” to be the individual or entity serving as the primary fiduciary responsible for all plan management activities (e.g., President, Plan Administrator, The Company (BOD), or another individual or entity). A plan must have appropriate fiduciaries in place so that it can continue operations and participants have a way to interact with the plan.

Plan sponsors and retirement plan committees are likely to encounter a myriad of industry-related naming devices and designations. It is important that they understand what each means in terms of definition, background, and practical impact/importance to the plan, the plan’s fiduciaries, and the plan’s participants.

Fiduciary Hot Topics - Federal District Court Rules Record Keepers May Use Participant Data to Cross-Sell Retail Products; the Biden Administration Plans to Walk Back the Restricting the Use of ESG Funds; Tax Payers will Pick up the Tab for Underfunded Multiemployer Pension Plans for the Next 30 Years; Funding Relief for Underfunded Single Employer Pension Plans and Senate Removes Freeze on 401(k) Inflation Adjustments from ARPA.

The ERISA team takes the best of the ideas and incorporates them into a revised IPS template. In essence the template IPS is the product of hundreds of ERISA attorneys whose input is all taken into consideration.

Excessive fee litigation is increasing at a steady pace and all signs are it will continue to increase. The positive side of this situation is that we now have more caselaw to consider as we work toward compliance in creating a “best defense

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This saying is universal, and certainly applies to fiduciary responsibility. Beginning the year with an eye towards avoiding some of the most common errors makes sense. Most fiduciary errors are unintentional or even well meaning. Here are some examples.

Private equity funds invest in privately held companies whose stock is not traded on public exchanges. Private equity fund managers expect to increase the value of their investments by providing capital and acumen for the purpose of improving performance/value of these companies.

The duty to provide participants with sufficient information to make consistently informed retirement investment decisions is a basic fiduciary responsibility under ERISA Section 404(a). However, there could be some plan committees who feel their participants are not consistently making prudent decisions.

Several events can trigger a DOL or IRS audit, such as employee complaints or self-reporting under the annual submission of the Form 5500. Oftentimes an audit is a random event, which is why you should always be prepared.

The flow to passive management is one of the biggest talking points of the decade. With this shift came the daunting task, and responsibility, to better evaluate the abundance of index funds offered by the marketplace. Index funds seek to replicate the performance of a benchmark, making the idea of comparing returns appear counterintuitive.

Hey Joel - My client wants to conduct an RFP for an ERISA attorney, what are important questions they should include? - Questioning the Expert

Many employees feel squeezed to both pay off their debt and save for their future. A recent Private Letter Ruling (PLR) opens the door for employers to help them.