The DOL’s proposed regulation on selecting investments, including alternative assets, 2026-06178.pdf, identifies six factors that should be considered in the process of selecting any investments for participant-directed plans, such as 401(k) plans and private sector 403(b) plans. The six factors are: Performance, Fees, Liquidity, Valuation, Performance Benchmark, and Complexity. The proposal describes each of those factors and provides 20 examples of their application. In my post Alternative Assets (9) I discussed the second factor, Fees. My last three articles, Alternative Assets (10) , Alternative Assets (11) and Alternative Assets (12), examined the first three Fees examples in the proposal. This article looks at the fourth example of the application of the Fees factor. The fourth example is: (4) Example. Fees; Risk mitigation strategies— (i) Facts. A participant- directed defined contribution plan contains a custom-designed designated investment alternative that is a qualified default investment alternative (target date fund), managed by an investment manager within the meaning of ERISA section 3(38), with a strategy that targets specific percentages of stocks and bonds that trade on public exchanges. As part of a review of the plan’s investment menu, the named fiduciary with responsibility for selecting the qualified default investment alternative considers the investment