Blog

Over the past few months the Department of Labor has issued three pieces of guidance that are (potentially) significant for plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries. These include final regulations describing new restrictions on the use of environmental, social and governance factors (“ESG”) in the selection of plan investments, an interpretative bulletin) containing new rules for plan fiduciaries with respect to proxy voting, and a class-wide prohibited transaction exemption permitting fiduciaries to receive (otherwise prohibited) forms of compensation--such as commissions. These three pieces of guidance may prove to be significant--if they are ever allowed to go into effect.

The Department of Labor’s efforts to define when an investment adviser is a plan fiduciary--and the standards that must be followed by investment fiduciaries-- have taken a new turn with the release of new guidance. Background Fiduciary status under ERISA represents a significant responsibility: fiduciaries must act for the “exclusive benefit” of participants and beneficiaries--considered the highest standard of responsibility...

The Department of Labor has issued new proposed regulations intended to guide plan fiduciaries seeking to invest in funds that utilize environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations. In some ways, the proposed regulation rehashes some fundamental fiduciary principles: that in selecting investment options, fiduciaries must act for the “exclusive purpose” of providing benefits to participants. However, the proposed regulations targets...

On May 15 the Department of Labor finalized new “safe harbor” rules for the use of electronic media to provide documents required under ERISA. These new rules represent a potentially important easing of the efforts needed for plan administrators to meet disclosure obligations under ERISA. However, a more careful review of the rules raises significant questions about whether the new...

The SECURE Act (“Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019”) has now been signed into law and the benefits community is buzzing with opinions and planning ideas in response to the Act. This blog will provide a brief overview of key provisions of the Act and their potential implications. Multiple Employer Plans The costs and administrative burdens...

Employee benefits professionals often focus on the details of a specific event -- such as a new regulation or a new court case. Such focus is important; these details are critical to plan design and administration. But, it is also important to be cognizant of broader trends. This blog is about one of those trends. There is currently an ongoing...

In December the IRS issued Notice 2018-95. The Notice provides very specific and targeted relief for retirement plans under Code Section 403(b). Specifically, the Notice provides relief to 403(b) sponsors who failed to properly administer certain 403(b) eligibility rules. However, equally valuable to 403(b) sponsors, is the clarification contained in the Notice on how these eligibility rules are supposed to...

Several recent items in InvestmentNews describe market trends that should be noted -- and followed by -- plan fiduciaries. These items (Unintended fiduciary consequences of 401(k) fee compression and 401(k) record keepers seek new revenue streams to 'save themselves') address different aspects of the same issue: a number of long-term market trends are creating significant pressure on bundled recordkeepers’ revenues....

Disclosure is currently all in rage in the U.S. healthcare system. In recent weeks the federal government has taken a number of steps to increase the information available to consumers. Most notably: •      The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has recently proposed regulations that require direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertisements of prescription drugs and biological products to include the Wholesale...

It is estimated that there is currently $1.5 trillion in student debt owed by 44 million borrowers in the U.S. A recent IRS private letter ruling (PLR 201833012) approved an innovative approach that allows employees to balance student loan repayments with saving for retirement. By combining a 401(k) plan with student loan repayments, this approach may provide employers an opportunity...