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Fiduciary Governance
Looks like those hoping for some clarity on a threshold issue involving ERISA fee litigation will have to wait for another day.
I’m referring, of course, to last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court on the case of Hughes v. Northwestern University et al.—a case that the law firm of Schlichter Bogard...
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The ink was barely dry on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in an excessive fee case—and a federal judge who “…been awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University,” has applied its ruling in refusing to dismiss another, similar suit.
The participant-plaintiffs[1] here (...
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401(k) plans must pass certain IRS-mandated nondiscrimination tests annually to confirm that highly-compensated employees (HCEs) do not disproportionately benefit and that no plan participant exceeded certain contribution limits. Often, these tests are completed as soon as possible following a year...
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In a ruling likely to make it harder—perhaps much harder—to dismiss excessive fee lawsuits, the U.S. Supreme Court has remanded for further consideration a lower court decision that had favored the fiduciary defendants.
In a unanimous decision[1] (Hughes v. Northwestern University et al., case...
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The addition of an arbitration clause has—for the moment, anyway—paused an excessive fee suit. But what’s interesting is how the court applied the terms of that clause.
The suit had been brought by plaintiffs Lawanda Holmes, Ani M. Miller and Brittany E. Roxbury (“by and through their attorneys...
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Another fiduciary breach suit has been filed involving a series of target funds with a short, and allegedly poor, track record.
This time it’s participant-plaintiff Joanna P. Mattson bringing suit “individually and on behalf of the Milliman, Inc. Profit Sharing and Retirement Plan and a class of...
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Against a backdrop of record-setting litigation and workforce management challenges, many retirement plan committees are asking what steps they can take to put participants on a path to creating a fully funded retirement income stream.
To address those challenges and more, a new blog post from...
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An annual survey which looks at changes employers intend to make to their benefit plans in the year ahead finds that financial wellbeing and retirement readiness remain the top priorities.
Like prior years, 28% of large employers said they are most focused on addressing broad financial wellbeing...
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After dying in 2020, a proposal to tax financial transactions—including those in 401(k) plans—is once again before the Garden State’s legislature.
During the start of the New Jersey legislative session this week, Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex and Morris) reintroduced legislation (A1757) on Jan...
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It’s taken a while for the details to emerge, but we finally know the terms of a proprietary fund settlement—cash and a plan design “twist.”
This suit—filed way back on Valentine’s Day, 2017—involves allegations by a participant in its own plan (and funds), one David G. Feinberg, on behalf of the...
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While the current environment appears ripe for self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs) as various plan participants welcome the opportunity to select investments that reflect their values and priorities, plan sponsors should carefully consider the tradeoffs, a new study suggests.
While SDBAs...
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The Department of Labor, IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Dec. 29 released information copies of the Form 5500, Form 5500-SF and Form 5500-EZ for use in reporting about the 2021 plan year, as well as their accompanying instructions.
Information copies are not to be used for...
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Institutional investors are expressing confidence in the projected market conditions of 2022, but they also think individual investors are carelessly speculating on high-risk investments.
In fact, nearly half of institutional investors expect economic growth to return to pre-COVID levels in 2022...
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Another proprietary fund suit has been filed, with participants in its own plan alleging “self-dealing at the expense of its own workers’ retirement savings.”
In the most recent case David Ravarino, William Kenan Kelly, Holly A. Smith, Jeana Rose Bollinger, Johanna Langille, Laura Shur, Lisa Bishop...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced Dec. 21 that it has approved its first multiemployer plan application under the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) Program created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP).
The PBGC on July 9 announced that it has issued an interim...
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It’s customary for businesses in evaluating future prospects to consider/identify elements under a “SWOT” analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats.
For this year’s NAPA Summit Insider, we again asked respondents to weigh in on how they saw these portents of change; a game changer...
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With cybersecurity of increasing concern to plan fiduciaries, participants—and regulators—a participant has sued his plan’s recordkeeper for breach of an implied contract to keep his data secure—as well as a breach of fiduciary obligation.
The suit was brought by one Eric Giannini “on behalf of...
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While plan sponsors and DC specialists continue to share views on many aspects of plan support and service, a new survey finds that DC specialists have an opportunity to further demonstrate the value they provide.
According to the third edition of Voya Investment Management’s survey of plan...
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While the American Retirement Association is broadly supportive of its stated intentions, the Labor Department’s proposed rule regarding consideration of ESG factors in plan investments and proxy voting should adopt a more neutral stance.
In a Dec. 13 comment letter, the ARA recommends that in...
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Despite many Americans admitting that they are behind schedule on saving for retirement, many also say they have been saving as much or more since the pandemic began.
According to a Bankrate survey of 2,225 American adults conducted from Oct. 20-22, 2021, nearly 63% of workers report that they...
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