Excerpt: On November 6, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturned the dismissal of a complaint against an insurer asserting breaches of fiduciary duties under ERISA where the insurer paid life insurance benefits by means of a retained asset account. In so ruling, the court rejected arguments by the insurer (1) that payment through the retained asset account was the equivalent of a lump sum payment and (2) that the breach of fiduciary duty claim was precluded by ERISA's guaranteed benefit contract provision.  MORE >>