New DOL Guidance Regarding Proxy Advisory Firms and Proxy Voting for Retirement Plans

BARBRI

This CLE webinar will provide employee benefits counsel, plan sponsors, and asset managers guidance on the new DOL guidance regarding proxy-related rules for retirement plans. The panel will discuss key issues stemming from DOL Technical Release 2026-1, fiduciary requirements and preemption provisions, proxy voting rights, issues for proxy advisory firms, and next steps for plan sponsors and administrators.

Description

On December 11, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14366 instructing federal regulators to review current ESG related policies. This shift in the legal landscape aims to limit the use of ESG factors in fiduciary decision making, and may cause compliance and litigation risks for plan sponsors and advisors.

The Executive Order directed the DOL to consider treating proxy advisory firms as ERISA investment advice fiduciaries. In response, on April 1, 2026, the DOL issued guidance for administrators and fiduciaries of plans subject to ERISA in Technical Release 2026-1. The new guidance covers the application of ERISA's fiduciary requirements and preemption provisions to proxy advisory firms and their services as it relates to the selection of investments, shareholder rights, and the use of ESG factors when making investments decisions.

Listen as our panel discusses key issues, compliance challenges, and litigation risks in the shifting landscape of ESG and proxy voting rules, and how they apply to proxy advisory firms. The panel will also discuss the application of ERISA fiduciary requirements and preemption provisions, and next steps for plan sponsors and administrators.

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