Fiduciary Governance

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted six more weeks of cold at the outset of February, but he was dead wrong regarding the fortunes of the 100 largest private-sector pension plans, according to a recent report. They had a good month, much like the hypothetical plans monitored regularly in two other... READ MORE

We now know the final piece of the excessive fee class action settlement struck by Fidelity with participant-plaintiffs in its own 401(k) plan: the attorneys’ fees. The original suit was filed in October 2018 by plaintiffs Kevin Moitoso, Tim Lewis and Mary Lee Torline (and now joined by Sheryl... READ MORE

Student loan debt—or more precisely, the forgiveness of some part of it—has dominated the headlines of late—but it’s been on the minds of retirement plan sponsors for a while now. The question is—why?  While the issue is hardly new, the connection between retirement savings and student debt really... READ MORE

The parties in a case that promised to set a new fiduciary threshold in stock drop litigation—that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court—and back—has settled. The parties here were those in the case of Jander v. Retirement Plans Committee of IBM, 910 F.3d 620 (2d Cir. 2018)—which had been... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on Feb. 23 announced the appointment of Russell Dempsey as General Counsel. In that capacity, Dempsey will provide advice and counsel for the PBGC Director and the agency on legal and regulatory issues, including:  enforcement of Title IV of ERISA... READ MORE

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a report concerning single-employer contribution policy assumptions related to the Single-Employer Pension Insurance Modeling System (SE-PIMS). It provides updated assumptions used to project future single-employer plan contributions in... READ MORE

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration has confirmed that the Trump administration’s “Improving Investment Advice for Worker & Retirees” Prohibited Transaction Exemption for investment advice fiduciaries will go into effect as scheduled on Feb. 16, 2021.  The... READ MORE

COVID-19, along with the measures adopted to address the pandemic’s effects and the actions taken under those measures, have had unexpected effects—including an impact on plan audits.   The changes that have taken place, as well as the pandemic itself, have affected both plan sponsors and... READ MORE

The platform may be different, but the excessive fee allegations directed toward a multiple employer plan (MEP) are all too familiar. The plaintiff this time is one Kimario Anderson, who was employed by Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company, LLC, an employer that participated in the Coca-Cola... READ MORE