News Archive

"This [article] explores a series of policy recommendations to the several regulators impacted by the Executive Order.... [The] article also includes suggestions as to what market participants such as investment managers, fund sponsors, insurance companies, recordkeepers, and intermediaries as well as Plan fiduciaries can do now in light of evolving legal and commercial developments."  MORE >>

"Empower has announced a new partnership with Blackstone, adding private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure strategies to its defined contribution platform.... Plan sponsors and advisors should be asking hard questions. How do fees compare? How is liquidity managed? What happens in market stress? How is participant suitability determined? And perhaps most importantly, how do you document fiduciary prudence when offering strategies that most participants have never heard of and don't fully understand?"  MORE >>

"Despite the potential for a more favorable regulatory environment, plan administrators should proceed with caution when considering alternative assets. Several practical considerations warrant attention. [1] Alternative assets differ from traditional investments.... [2] Documentation remains paramount.... [3] Participant communications deserve special attention.... [4] Any participant demand should be evaluated carefully."  MORE >>

"Private investments are not entering defined contribution plans because they are exciting. They are entering because the industry is increasingly able to reconcile institutional investment concepts with participant-centric realities -- primarily through professionally managed, multi-asset structures. For 3(38) fiduciaries, this evolution presents both an opportunity and a responsibility."  MORE >>

"Among alternative asset classes, private equity was of greatest interest, with 67% of respondents saying they would be interested in evaluating it for retirement plans.... Overwhelmingly, responding advisers expected private market assets to be introduced to DC plans through professionally managed, multi-asset products, such as managed accounts (75%), off-the-shelf target-date funds (60%) or custom asset allocation funds (60%)."  MORE >>

"The line between who can and cannot invest in private securities is mostly governed by wealth and income, and this is arbitrary, [SEC Chair Paul Atkins] argued.... Atkins went on to argue that workers already have indirect access to alts in their pensions, 'why not extend it to 401(k)s?' He added that 'one cannot necessarily have a balanced portfolio in this current market without having exposure to the private markets.' "  MORE >>

"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 >>