Private Equity Compliance With ERISA: Fiduciary Duties in Managing ERISA Plan Assets

Strafford

This CLE course will prepare counsel representing private equity funds and private equity professionals to meet the challenges under ERISA that apply to fund managers who are responsible for investing the assets of a fund that holds ERISA plan assets. The program will cover the impact on private equity firms of court rulings discussing specific joint and several liabilities under ERISA plans.

Description

ERISA imposes fiduciary obligations in connection with funds that hold "plan assets" subject to ERISA on private equity managers responsible for investing fund assets. To avoid becoming subject to ERISA's fiduciary requirements, funds must structure their investments to comply with an exception to ERISA's "plan asset" rules. If the funds are intended or required to be subject to ERISA, ERISA's requirements will affect fund operations in many ways.

Also, specific ERISA plans carry significant joint and several liabilities for all companies that are part of a "controlled group" under the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA that maintains such plans. Funds should identify such ERISA plans in due diligence before purchasing a portfolio company that sponsors such a plan and structure their investments to minimize the risk that these liabilities will become liabilities of the fund.

Listen as our authoritative panel of finance attorneys discusses the fiduciary obligations under ERISA that apply to private equity fund managers responsible for investing the assets of a fund that holds ERISA plan assets. The panel will focus on the duty to avoid prohibited transactions, relevant case law, and implications of the current state of the fiduciary rule.

Outline

1. ERISA fiduciary duties applicable to private equity managers
   • Exceptions available to private equity funds
   • Penalties and personal liability under ERISA
2. Joint and several liability under ERISA
3. Structuring investments with pension obligations

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