Are there any situations where a plan does not need to have a sponsor?? Thanks.

Are we talking about a qualified plan? I don't think you can have one without having a sponsor. In 1995, it appears that the IRS (through the Houston Key District) was taking the position that "orphan plans" (plans without sponsors) are not qualified because of the lack of a sponsor. The PWBA (DOL) would also most likely target the plan for lack of a fiduciary. See P&B Weekly, PWBA Responds to ASPA Questions About Form 5500 and Other Matters, (11/13/2000).

Still, there is not much out there on this. I'd be interested to hear if the IRS or DOL has taken a steadfast position on this.

Here's the situation as far as i know: An employer sponsors a qualified plan. He is thinking about terminating his plan. He has invested some of the plan $$ in limited partnerships and says he'll get killed (i guess he means tax wise) if he terminates and gets out of the limited partnerships. He says he read somewhere that a plan didn't need a plan sponsor and i think he wants to terminate the plan and leave it without a sponsor.

I got all this throught a third party so i don't have all the details but that's what i know.

I guess what I don't understand is that if he terminates the plan, why is he even worrying about "sponsorship" issues? A terminated plan has no sponsors (or if it does, it would only be for as long as it takes to distribute out the assets). Does he simply want to stop sponsoring the plan (e.g, withdraw as a sponsoring employer) but still leave it in existence?

The "orphan plan" context is usually where the EMPLOYER goes out of business and leaves a plan behind. But this doesn't look like your fact scenario....