Fund Changes

[Guest johnberube]

I have a daily valued 401k Plan and we're making some changes to the investment lineup. Removing a couple funds and mapping to like funds. Is there a 30 day notice requirement? I can get a communication out to employees very shortly but it won't be 30 days- more like 20 days. There will be no blackout. Please advise- thx in advance.

[Guest Sieve]

If you want ERISA Section 404© protection from certain fiduciary liabilities, then you probably should provide some notice in order to meet the requirements that the participant (i) have an opportunity to exercise control over the investment alternatives (which also requires that the participant have a "reasonable" opportunity to give investment instructions), and be (ii) given an opportunity to choose how assets are invested. There's no specific notice or notice deadline for general 404© protection.

If the default mapping is into a qualified default investment alternative (whether or not you want 404© protection), you can obtain fiduciary relief if you meet the requirements of ERISA Section 404©(5), which includes a 30-day notice requirement the first time QDIAs are made available to a participant (& annually thereafter). (See, generally, DOL Reg. Secion 2550.404c-5 and Section 2550.404c-5©(3).)