News Archive

"The industry will likely see a multi-pronged approach to developing alternative investment solutions for the DC Plan marketplace. Plan sponsors contemplating a move into alternatives should expect to see iterations of popular asset allocation strategies such as target-date and target-risk funds coming to market with alternative investment exposures already embedded[.]"  MORE >>

"Some retirement savers might experience life-altering losses if retirement plan sponsors and advisers steer them into risky and hard-to-value investments like private equity and cryptocurrencies....[P]rivately traded investments ... may be difficult to sell when workers are ready for retirement and digital collectibles ... have no intrinsic value ... Marketing risky investments to millions of retirement plan participants is a way to bail out billionaires at the expense of ordinary savers ... A speculative bubble like the one in the roaring 1920s might grow and lead to a crash with economywide repercussions."  MORE >>

"Given the relative uncertainty surrounding the selection of alternative investments as investment choices in retirement plans, fiduciaries should remember to use procedures that will clearly establish that they acted as 'prudent experts.' ... Alternative assets have a particular risk-return profile, which may or may not be appropriate for retirement savings in a particular 401(k) plan.... [P]lan fiduciaries should be able to demonstrate that the selection of an investment choice is justified."  MORE >>

"[SEC] Chairman Paul Atkins reaffirmed his support on January 29, 2026, for opening the twelve-and-a-half-trillion-dollar 401(k) market to digital assets. Speaking at a digital finance summit in Washington, Atkins stated that it is 'the right time' to modernize [ERISA] to allow everyday workers the same access to alternative investments that institutional pension funds have enjoyed for decades."  MORE >>

"T. Rowe Price's solution for diversification ... is to expand the opportunity to include private assets in multi-asset products.... [P]rivate markets overall have grown by 618% in the past 15 years, at nearly three times the speed of public assets' growth.... [P]rivate markets may also provide investors access to private company growth and may return premiums that differ from public-only portfolios."  MORE >>

"This Part 2 focuses on the tensions inherent in the law that historically have served as substantial headwinds for 401(k) plan access to such strategies and provides a deeper dive into currently available pathways with a focus on recent [SEC] reforms and traditional operational constraints that continue to make some strategies highly challenging under [ERISA]."  MORE >>

"If the Court affirms the Ninth Circuit's approach and endorses a strict meaningful benchmark requirement, it would make it significantly more difficult for participants to pursue ERISA claims challenging investment decisions beyond the pleading stage. Plan sponsors would benefit from a higher bar for plaintiffs, particularly in defending the selection of investment strategies that incorporate alternatives where truly comparable funds may not exist." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Inv. Policy Comm., No. 22-16268 (9th Cir. May 22, 2025; cert. pet. granted Jan 16, 2026, No. 25-498)]  MORE >>

"This case promises to be critical to how courts handle 'underperformance' litigation -- cases in which plaintiffs challenge the prudence fiduciary/committee investment decisions based on a retrospective analysis of the targeted plan funds vs. other investment options." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Inv. Policy Comm., No. 22-16268 (9th Cir. May 22, 2025; cert. pet. granted Jan 16, 2026, No. 25-498)]  MORE >>

"In their petition for consideration of their case by the Supreme Court, the plaintiff basically argued that the application of a 'meaningful benchmark' standard baseline for consideration required 'that a complaint must identify a "relevant comparator" fund with "similar objectives" against which the performance of the challenged fund can be measured' -- even though ... nothing in ERISA's text explicitly requires such a rule." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Inv. Policy Comm., No. 22-16268 (9th Cir. May 22, 2025; cert. pet. granted Jan 16, 2026, No. 25-498)]  MORE >>

"The Intel case is not about whether private equity is 'good' or 'bad.' It is about whether ERISA fiduciaries can hide the governing investment contracts, invent benchmarks, and still claim compliance with the strictest fiduciary law in the country. If Intel prevails, the consequences will not stop with private equity. They will extend directly to target-date funds, annuities, private credit, and any opaque product that depends on secrecy to survive scrutiny." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Inv. Policy Comm., No. 22-16268 (9th Cir. May 22, 2025; cert. pet. granted Jan 16, 2026, No. 25-498)]   MORE >>

"With a deadline ticking, the [DOL] has submitted for review a proposed rule that would clarify its position on alternative assets and the appropriate fiduciary process. The DOL submitted the proposal to the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Jan. 13.... [OMB] typically has up to 90 days to review rules; however, that period could be shorter. With the 180-day deadline ticking, it seems possible that the OMB will move quickly in its review."  MORE >>

"The opportunities are real, but so are the operational, legal, and reputational implications for any manager who accepts 401(k) capital.... For managers ... there is now a clear policy tailwind for defined contribution plans to invest into private markets. However, no regulatory guidance or statutory efforts have been made to relax the DOL's core standards regarding investment management by plan fiduciaries ... The foregoing creates several practical implications."  MORE >>

"Industry experts say 2026 will be defined by policy momentum and plan sponsor caution over alternative assets in defined contribution plans.... Advisers say client inquiries are rising, and the industry is building the infrastructure to make private equity, private credit and real assets work inside default solutions, likely as part of target-date funds, managed accounts or other professionally managed offerings."  MORE >>

"Litigation reform and the Supreme Court's Cornell decision ... Risk transfer litigation ... Alternative assets Executive Order.... Proxy advisory firm Executive Order.... DOL intends to revise ESG regulation.... Aronowitz confirmed as EBSA head ... DOL advisory opinion on lifetime income QDIA.... DOL 'non-enforcement' policy for transfers of small retirement benefits to state unclaimed property funds.... DOL files amicus briefs requesting Supreme Court review of two key ERISA fiduciary decisions and supporting sponsor fiduciaries.... Forfeiture litigation."  MORE >>

"This [article] provides an overview of President Trump's recent Executive Order directing regulatory agencies to take action to enhance 401(k) plan access to such strategies, and continues by summarizing some prior history, moves on to outline concerns of plan fiduciaries and then offers some of the reasons proponents and opponents have concerning alternative assets in 401(k) plans."  MORE >>

11 pages. "[A] recent executive action from the White House has signaled a shift toward a more favorable regulatory environment for Investment Solutions that incorporate alternative investments. This article examines the evolving regulatory landscape in this area and discusses the key considerations for Plan fiduciaries who are interested in giving their Plan participants access to alternative investments through the Plan's Investment Solutions."  MORE >>

"In 2025, the consulting industry has quietly transformed into the single most important distribution channel for private equity. This shift cuts across every ownership model ... [T]he economic incentives all point in the same direction: Push pensions and retirement plans into higher-fee private equity and private credit -- regardless of long-term risk to beneficiaries."  MORE >>

"For employers, the impact of these changes is twofold. First, the employer must keep their plan in compliance—failure to do so could result in regulatory scrutiny, penalties, and fiduciary exposure. Second, the employer has the opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of their retirement benefits program, positioning its business as an employer of choice."  MORE >>

"Employers in the United States saw legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments in the benefits space in 2025, all of which should inform plan sponsor and fiduciary decisions in 2026."  MORE >>

"[DOL's EBSA] returned from the longest government shutdown to find that the February deadline set by [EO 14330] ... calling on Labor to consider writing new guidance, is suddenly a month and a half closer.... In addition to the types of assets typically classified as 'alternative assets' ... the executive order also included lifetime retirement income. This ... could mean that EBSA will consider longstanding industry hopes for broader guidance, potentially regulations, permitting 401(k) plans to use defaults to spur takeup of retirement income."  MORE >>

"Many pension funds, endowments and sovereign wealth funds that are longstanding investors in private funds have seen the benefits of diversification and have also seen these investments contribute to their return profiles. Commissioner Uyeda's speech takes the position that retail investors should be able to share in this growth opportunity as well, but currently have limited opportunities for participation. Allowing retail investors to enter the private markets through 401(k) plans would significantly increase ease of access."  MORE >>

"Though the 2nd Circuit found that the plaintiffs had standing to sue and acknowledged that private assets had more risk, it also determined that the investment did not breach fiduciary duty under [ERISA]." [Carlisle v. The Board of Trustees of The American Federation of The New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, No. 25-0511 (2d Cir. Nov. 21, 2025; unpub.)]  MORE >>

"Private equity firms and other alternative asset managers ... are reshaping the once-staid world of life insurance.... Many are shifting liabilities to offshore affiliates subject to less detailed disclosure requirements than in the US. Insurers and those offshore entities are also pursuing higher returns with more sophisticated and potentially less liquid investments ... [P]rivate equity-affiliated life insurers are already shepherding retirement savings into those same opaque markets -- including for people who say they don't want that."  MORE >>

"[The] study took a large number of real-life investors from Morningstar's Retirement Manager database and ran them through a simulated retirement experience, including factors such as company matches, contribution limits, and most importantly, Social Security payments. In all cases, ... the presence of at least one private markets investment made at least a small contribution to the investor's retirement income. Notably, [there were] no outcomes in which the inclusion of semiliquid vehicles resulted in worse outcomes."  MORE >>

"Most adults do not think it's important to have the ability to invest in private market investments (61%) ... within their workplace retirement savings account.... Interest in investing in private market investments declines sharply when people learn about fees, liquidity, transparency and risk -- three in five are not at all interested, and another quarter only slightly interested.... Most Americans are uncomfortable with being automatically enrolled in funds in their workplace retirement savings accounts that include private market investments (68%) ... This resistance is particularly strong among older adults."  MORE >>