The SEC’s proposed Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) for broker-dealers and the Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers both have a best interest standard of care -... Read More
Advertisement
Fiduciary Governance
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 7/3/2018
As we prepare to celebrate the Declaration that marks the birth of this nation, it seems a good time to reflect on some lessons from that experience that hold true even today.Inertia is a powerful... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 6/14/2018
Thinking outside the box can result in plan features that offer flexibility, liquidity and portability. But a recently released white paper suggests that it is important to be mindful of fiduciary... Read More
BY John Iekel | 5/15/2018
Plan sponsors should “embrace best practices” regarding their fiduciary duty, ERISA attorney Fred Reish told attendees at the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s 2018 annual conference.In his... Read More
BY John Iekel | 5/9/2018
Professional reputation is “usually something we’re constantly working on in the background," says Fi360 Executive Chairman Blaine Aikin. Building, maintaining and living it permeates everything from... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 4/24/2018
While reiterating some long-standing positions on socially responsive investing, the Labor Department has some new cautions about an ESG emphasis in plan design and proxy voting.It has done so in the... Read More
BY Robert Toth | 4/12/2018
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s participant loan changes (which delay the account offset on loan defaults related to unemployment or plan termination) trigger something we would all rather not look at:... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 2/20/2018
About a year ago, I was asked by an advisor if we had ever written anything about the potential pitfalls of hiring a relative as a plan advisor.We hadn’t, as it turns out, in no small part because... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 2/13/2018
In a time when some of the largest institutions have been hacked (including the federal government), it’s not surprising that our industry has already experienced issues with cybersecurity. But is... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 2/6/2018
A recent Alliance Bernstein survey found that plan sponsors’ awareness of their fiduciary role, much less the responsibility, has deteriorated significantly in recent years. In fact, their survey... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 1/23/2018
Whoever said ignorance was bliss surely wasn’t talking about fiduciary litigation.While I’ve had the opportunity over the past decade and change to peruse plenty of filings and findings related to... Read More
BY Nancy G. Ross | 1/3/2018
Fiduciaries have been sued for offering a stable value fund that is too risky, not risky enough – and for not offering one at all. Only Goldilocks, it seems, could safely offer a stable value fund:At... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 1/2/2018
This is the time of year when resolutions for the cessation of bad behaviors and the beginning of better ones are in vogue. Here are three for plan fiduciaries for 2018.Start a diet – for your fund... Read More
BY Don Trone | 11/9/2017
I don’t believe that the required disclosures associated with the DOL’s conflict-of-interest rule will pose the greatest liability for firms. Rather, it will be the organization’s inability to... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 10/17/2017
A new survey of large plan sponsors highlights the challenges of – and possible solutions for – structuring and running plan committees.Investment committees reporting that timeliness of making... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/10/2017
There’s an old saying that when you assume… well, here are six assumptions that can create real headaches for retirement plan fiduciaries.Assuming that not being required to have an investment policy... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 8/21/2017
A group that generally advocates for large multistate employers has issues with a new fiduciary law in Nevada that it says would have a negative impact on small employers.In a comment letter to Diana... Read More
BY John Iekel | 8/8/2017
Earlier this year, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the participants in a university’s plan do not have to exhaust administrative remedies before they pursue claims of ERISA... Read More
BY Don Trone | 8/3/2017
Consider this quote from management guru Ram Charan: “Seventy percent of strategic failures are due to poor execution of leadership. It’s rarely for lack of smarts or vision.” (Execution: The... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 7/18/2017
Back in the 1990s, the ability to support a self-directed brokerage account (SDBA) capability was a widely utilized means of winnowing the field in a 401(k) search, and more recently, the option... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 7/17/2017
It pays to pay attention to those 401(k) statements.That was the first clue that employees of employees of PCI, a building cleaning service, and CDM, a construction and property management service,... Read More
BY Don Trone | 5/24/2017
Neuro-Fiduciary is a new industry term that has evolved to represent the use of neuroscience to help amplify, infuse, and improve the quality of a fiduciary’s decision-making process. Of particular... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 3/30/2017
Christine Bodouva was the Chief Operating Officer and Senior V.P. of William N. Bodouva & Associates, an architecture firm. According to a blog post by Stinson, Leonard Street LLP, she was the... Read More
BY John Iekel | 3/22/2017
With that question, one of the panelists at a March 21 session at NAPA’s 2017 401(k) Summit captured the discussion’s import: There are matters fiduciaries must address regardless of what the fate of... Read More
BY Steff Chalk | 3/2/2017
Serving in a fiduciary capacity, or at least talking about it, has become mainstream in the wake of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. However, talk is cheap. There is an inherent complexity... Read More
Recent Comments