Developments in Retirement Plan Investment and Excessive Fee Litigation: A View From the Trenches

Strafford

This CLE course will discuss the current landscape of retirement plan investment and fee litigation. The discussion will focus on the offering of proprietary investment products and services in financial service company plans, and similar investment and fee litigation arising from the offering of investment products and services in client plans. The panel will also address how plan sponsors and fiduciaries can avoid or mitigate the risk of litigation in this changing legal environment.

Description

Financial services companies typically offer their products--mutual funds, insurance contracts, collective trusts, and delegated investment management services--to their employees and clients in company-sponsored 401(k) and retirement plans. These products and services can create additional risks for sponsors and fiduciaries and raise complicated issues under ERISA's prohibited transaction and fiduciary rules.

These complex issues have recently moved front and center in both the regulatory and litigation arenas as private plaintiffs and the government challenge the prudence and performance of these investments and associated fees and expenses. These challenges raise the specter of expensive litigation and potential liability affecting both financial services companies and their clients.

Listen as our experienced panel of ERISA attorneys discusses the legal issues that can arise from offering proprietary or affiliated products in ERISA-covered retirement plans sponsored by financial services companies. The panel will discuss regulatory and litigation challenges to proprietary funds and explain how plan sponsors and fiduciaries can avoid or mitigate the additional risk these offerings create.

Outline

1. Risks with offering proprietary funds in retirement plans and the varied legal standards
2. Investment management and 3(38) management services
3. Breach of fiduciary duty
4. DOL investigations and class action complaints
5. Anticipating the next wave of retirement plan litigation

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