Key Point: The DOL’s example will allow plan fiduciaries to rely on written representations by investment managers. I don’t like the concept of relying on representations by people who will make money if plan fiduciaries say “yes” but won’t if they say “no”.  While this approach may be protective of fiduciaries, I don’t think it is protective of participants. In that vein, I wouldn’t be surprised to see multiple-page, fine print, representations with exceptions galore, being given to plan fiduciaries. 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 earlier posts, I covered four of the factors—Performance, Fees, Performance Benchmarks and Complexity, and their examples. In my last four articles, Alternative Assets (22), Alternative Assets (23), Alternative Assets (24), Alternative Assets (25) and Alternative Assets (26), I looked at the Liquidity factor and examples of the application of that factor.  This article discusses the fourth