Things I Worry About (23): Pooled Employer Plans and DOL RFI (4)
Key Takeaways The DOL has issued guidance about PEPs—pooled employer plans—that provides tips for adopting employers and questions about PEPs and that suggests a possible fiduciary safe harbor for small employers who adopt PEPs. This article continues a discussion of the questions that the DOL says that employers should ask when considering adopting a PEP […]
Things I Worry About (22): Pooled Employer Plans and DOL RFI (3)
Key Takeaways The DOL has issued guidance about PEPs—pooled employer plans—that provides tips for adopting employers and questions about PEPs and a possible fiduciary safe harbor for small employers who adopt PEPs. This article begins a discussion of the questions that the DOL says that employers should ask when considering adopting a PEP for their […]
Things I Worry About (17): Executive Orders, Private Funds, and Fiduciary Standards (3)
Key Takeaways The Trump administration has issued an Executive Order about facilitating 401(k) investments in “alternative assets.” The Order directs the Secretary of Labor to examine current guidance and decide if it is appropriate for that purpose. The Order also directs the Secretary of Labor to issue guidance to clarify fiduciary responsibilities for 401(k) investing […]
The New Fiduciary Rule (12): Advisors and Agents with Restricted Investment Menus (Part 1)
The U.S. Department of Labor has released its package of proposed changes to the regulation defining fiduciary advice and to the exemptions for conflicts and compensation for investment recommendations to retirement plans, participants (including rollovers), and IRAs. Key Takeaways The Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary “package” expands the scope of fiduciary status (to include, e.g., […]
Best Interest Standard of Care for Advisors #44
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 9) On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became effective. The PTE is titled “Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees.” It allows investment advisers, broker-dealers, banks, and insurance companies (“financial institutions”), and […]