According to a new white paper, a surprising number of plan sponsor representatives who oversee their companies’ 401(k) plans don’t realize they are fiduciaries under ERISA.
And some believe... Read More
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Fiduciary Governance
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 8/26/2019
A former recordkeeper employee has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing funds from dormant participant accounts.
United States Attorney William M. McSwain has announced that Scott... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 8/8/2019
Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Physics says that, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” That also apparently applies to ERISA litigation.
On August 5, the law firm of... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 8/7/2019
While disputing allegations and denying liability, plan fiduciaries have announced the second largest monetary settlement to date regarding a university retirement plan.
This settlement – for $14,... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 8/5/2019
A “third party administrator fee” was used to skim more than $3.3 million from employees’ paychecks.
From 2013 through 2017, some 300 workers at Plainville, CT-based Ferguson Electric and Ferguson... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 7/2/2019
This week we’ll commemorate Independence Day – but with all of freedom’s lessons, there are certain things that plan committees (still) have in common with the Second Continental Congress.... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 6/24/2019
A participant-plaintiff’s appeal of a judgement denying his claims of a fiduciary breach by his employer has come up short.
This suit was brought by plaintiff Alexander Usenko, a former employee... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 6/20/2019
A plan sponsor fiduciary won their case in court, refuting allegations that they should have removed a fund from the plan’s investment menu.
The plaintiff in this case was one Marc J. Muri, an... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 6/18/2019
Plaintiffs Melissa Velazquez and Frances Fuentes-Noriega have submitted the terms of a proposed settlement with the court.
The parties had announced having come to terms last month – just days... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 6/16/2019
Contending that the SEC’s new Regulation Best Interest falls short, the Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth plans to enter the fiduciary rulemaking fray.
William Galvin announced June 14... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 5/21/2019
I was late to the Game of Thrones – and though its final season seems a bit “rushed” – there has been plenty to not only watch, but mull over in its eight-season run. And yet, as the series wound to... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 4/30/2019
Plan sponsors often gloss over the reality that they are ERISA fiduciaries – or think that if they have hired an advisor, they’ve basically hired a stand-in for that responsibility. But there’s... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 4/23/2019
Over the past decade and change, there have been a number of high-profile excessive fee suits brought against retirement plan fiduciaries, notably the plan committees that oversee these programs.... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 3/21/2019
Now there’s a whole new reason to focus on things fiduciary.
That’s right, March 21 – 3(21), get it? – has been declared Fiduciary Awareness DayTM, and if you haven’t heard about it yet, it’s... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 3/13/2019
“After vigorous advocacy and negotiation,” the parties in a 403(b) university excessive fee suit have come to terms.
The settlement – stuck between participant-plaintiffs Diane G. Short, Judith... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 3/11/2019
“An exceptionally careful and well-informed” process has helped a plan fiduciary get most of the claims in an excessive fee suit dismissed before trial.
The suit, filed in January 2016 in the... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 1/31/2019
Given the increasing influence that digital design can have on retirement savings decisions, plan sponsors and advisors may want to assess their “digital fiduciary” role, writes behavioral scientist... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 1/8/2019
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 four for plan fiduciaries to keep in mind all year long.
Find... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/28/2018
“Best Interest” has become part of the American lexicon... as an aspirational goal or a demanding standard — depending on the point of view. But, what does best interest mean?In a recent blog post,... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 12/17/2018
The participant-plaintiffs in a stock drop case have won a rare victory in federal court.The plaintiffs alleged that the IBM defendants (IBM itself, along with the Retirement Plans Committee of IBM;... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 11/14/2018
While much of the focus on fiduciary outsourcing centers on transferring full or limited investment discretion under ERISA section 3(38) or section 3(21), plan advisors’ understanding of the ins and... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/30/2018
Halloween is the time of year when one’s thoughts turn to trick-or-treat, ghosts and goblins, and things that go bump in the night. But what are the things that keep – or should keep – plan... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 10/19/2018
The federal government’s updated unified regulatory agenda has shed light on the status of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s and Department of Labor’s efforts on investment advice and the now-... Read More
BY John Iekel | 10/16/2018
In his most recent blog post about best practices, ERISA attorney Fred Reish explores retirement income projections as a way to better serve plan participants.Reish explains why he includes... Read More
BY Ted Godbout | 10/12/2018
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced a new four-year strategic plan with a distinctive focus on Main Street – and an acknowledgement that the line between investment advice and... Read More
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