The big story in retirement investing is now the Trump administration’s push to have private equity investments added into 401(k) plans. This isn’t really a new story, as I have been writing about it since at least last November, but the intensity – as well as the media coverage – has now ramped up.
This is a very nice, well-balanced article by Kellie Mejdrich of Law360 on the question of adding private equity investments into 401(k) plans. I am quoted in it not so much as a naysayer on the idea, but more on the need for a little bit of skepticism and caution on the idea. To be
Walk softly and carry a big stick. Trust but verify. Never bring a knife to a gunfight.
People who know me, have read my blog regularly, heard me speak on ERISA issues, or been on a jury in a case I have tried, know that I am very fond of analogies, metaphors, short examples, and
Group life is the redheaded stepchild of employee benefits, often added on by insurers on top of the primary products being sold to plan sponsors and employers, such as disability insurance. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, except that problems tend to crop up in the administration of group life plans and in the
I wanted to quickly pass along, with a couple of comments, this excellent blog post by Scott Galbreath of Trucker Huss on a recent Ninth Circuit decision on interpreting and applying releases of ERISA claims executed by employees. As the post points out, the Ninth Circuit adopted the tests of other circuits, including the First
Years ago, I represented a financial advisor in a dispute with a particular, well-known financial product provider after the advisor concluded that the fees in the annuities offered by that company were both too high and too hidden for him to continue to recommend the product to his clients, and instead recommended that his clients
A recent discussion with a colleague in the insurance industry (who shall remain nameless so as to protect the innocent) caused me to crystalize some of my inchoate thinking on how current problems in ERISA class action litigation, including too many suits, too much defense spending, too much self-protective caution on the part of plan
Because I really like lawyering, I am pleased that I have had a very busy and productive February, full of client meetings, filings in courts in various jurisdictions, and interesting work. The drawback, though, is that it is now almost the end of the second month of 2025 and I still haven’t finished my countdown
There is a great article today in the Wall Street Journal on the adoption of 401(k) plans by smaller companies, noting that this phenomenon is driven by both legislative and labor market developments, and crediting these changes with pushing employee participation in 401(k) plans to half of the labor force. All good news, but there