This is not, at this point, a novel idea, but I do take credit for being one of the first to blog regularly on the thesis that we are approaching, if haven’t by now already hit, a perfect storm when it comes to retirement benefits and ERISA. The perfect storm consists of a series of
401(k) Plans
On ERISA and the Potential Liability of Senior Executives
Susan Mangiero of FTI Consulting, who blogs at Pension Risk Matters (as well as at Good Risk Governance Pays) and is one of my favorite sources of information concerning the investment and risk management realities that lie behind the façade of ERISA governed plans, is, along with a few other worthies, presenting a…
Fiduciary Prudence? 9.5 Million Reasons to Care.
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans, Fiduciaries
Here’s something very interesting, which I thought I would pass along with a couple of comments. It is the Court’s order concerning the proposed settlement of the class action at issue in George v. Kraft Food. George, which I discussed here, involved a particularly minute attack on the stock fund structure in…
Fee Disclosure, the Wall Street Journal, and the Value of Regulation
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans
Well, its 2012 and its time to pay close attention to fee disclosure involving 401(k) plans, for those of you who weren’t thinking about it already. The Wall Street Journal caught the bug yesterday, in this article that got wide play. I will tell you what about it caught my attention, which was the quote…
An Entertaining Little Primer on Cash Balance Plans
By Stephen Rosenberg on
All right, I am getting back in the saddle after a couple weeks off from blogging to recharge my batteries and tie up some key end of the year issues in a few cases. Not wanting to do too much heavy lifting on my first day back on the blog beat, I thought I would…
The Realities of Plan Fees – Or Why They Are Not Excessive Just Because They Exist
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans
Amidst all the commentary and lawsuits over excessive fees – or allegedly excessive fees – on 401(k) investment options comes this article pointing out all that advisors do to earn that money, and raising questions, at least implicitly, as to whether courts and critics are asking the wrong question when they inquire into the reasonableness…
How Much Employer Stock is Too Much? Anything More than a Little
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans
Here is a well-done article, with data spoon fed by BrightScope, on the issue of having large employer stock holdings in defined contribution plans. The article points out the extent to which some plans have very large employer stock holdings in them, as well as the efforts being taken by some employers to educate…
Some Notes From the Real World on the Practical Realities of Fee Disclosure
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans
I have worked over the years, formally or informally, with a number of third party administrators, investment advisors, and similar service providers to plans, and have always preferred those who bring to the table a real understanding of, and ability to communicate, the substantive issues that impact plan operation and performance. If you think of…
Citigroup, McGraw-Hill, and Moench
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans, Fiduciaries
Not unexpectedly, the Second Circuit has just adopted the Moench presumption, in this ruling here and this one here involving stock drop cases. For those with less time on your hands, here is an excellent news media summary of these stock drop rulings out of the Second Circuit yesterday. I have long posited that, given…
Defensive Plan Building After Loomis
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans, Fiduciaries
Many of you may remember the race among law firms, after the trial court ruling in Tibble, to issue client alerts advising plan sponsors to make sure they were not holding retail share classes in their 401(k) plan investment options. Now, of course, we have the Seventh Circuit holding that it is just plain…