"In most cases, plan sponsors mistakenly believe that they have recourse against their service providers if the information provided to the plan sponsor is incorrect. In truth, most service providers use contracts that effectively limit any fiduciary liability for the information they may provide to a plan.... Plan sponsors should be aware that the courts have held that reliance on stockbroker, insurance agents and others with a potential financial interest in the advice they provide is never justified.... Evaluating funds based solely on annual returns and standard deviation of returns data is not acceptable, as it ignores other important factors in the fiduciary prudence equation."  MORE >>