"The supplemental statement makes two principal points. The first clarifies that the June 3, 2020 information letter was not 'balanced with counter-arguments and research data' concerning the risks of private equity investments.... The second point is that some plan fiduciaries may not have the level of knowledge necessary to evaluate private equity investments and may need to seek assistance from qualified advisors."  MORE >>

"Employees are enrolled with a default 5% contribution rate into a default target date fund based on their expected retirement age. Employees can choose to save more or less, and may select alternative investment options.... [E]mployees are not required to participate ... and can opt-out at any time."  MORE >>

"[T]he court's analysis of what is the proper comparator/benchmark to judge whether a TDF has 'underperformed' focuses on the critical issue of the similarity (between the proposed benchmark and the challenged TDF) of aims, risks, and potential rewards ... [In] view of the [DOL's] recent 'Supplemental Statement' on the inclusion of private equity investments as a 'component' of, e.g., a target date fund, the case presents a real world test of the prudence, under ERISA, of that strategy." [Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm., No. 19-4618 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Ms. McNulty then took physical possession of the AE coins and placed them in a home safe with non-IRA assets ... In so doing, she relied on a statement on the LLC vendor's website that advertised that an LLC owned by an IRA could invest in AE coins, and IRA owners could hold the coins at their homes, without tax consequences or penalties so long as the coins were titled to the LLC. The LLC marketers believed they had found a proverbial tax loophole, but the Tax Court disagreed." [McNulty v. Comm'r, No. 1377-19 (T.C. Memo Nov. 18, 2021)]  MORE >>

"Unfortunately for 401(k) plan sponsors, the Supreme Court rejected the Seventh Circuit's defense without providing its own alternative. If a plan has one poor fund among its 20 offerings, has the sponsor been imprudent? Five funds? What about 10? The court gave no guidance.... [W]hile the Supreme Court has affirmed that context matters ... the Court has not described that context." [Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 19-1401 (S. Ct. Jan. 24, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Employers use [early retirement incentive programs (ERIPs)] for a variety of reasons, including bottom-line cost cutting, encouraging healthy turnover, and minimizing entrenchment ... Whatever the basis of an employer's decision, it must consider certain basic business and legal principles before implementing an ERIP."  MORE >>

"To provide more efficiency in delivering retirement benefits, we need a fresh look at retirement vehicle options.... [T]wo central points [drive] better outcomes with similar costs: [1] Longevity risks should be pooled; [2] Benefit payments should incorporate some level of flexibility ... [There are] options now to deliver on these better structures. Given the deep feeling of unease, these options need more visibility. Regulatory change can further expand on them."  MORE >>

"A method with greater practicality doesn't look at risk at all. It merely looks at where the retirement saver needs to be and what must be done to get there. Yes, there's a way to incorporate 'risk tolerance,' but only as a way of identifying sacrifices investors must accept. It, therefore, becomes a matter of managing expectations.... The problem, however, is that risk tolerance is embedded in the entire infrastructure[.]"  MORE >>

"As of early 2021, there were approximately 18.5 million state and local government employees, across all 50 U.S. states, approximately 39,000 general-purpose local governments, and 51,000 special districts, filling positions in education, utilities, transportation, hospitals, and general administration, among other key responsibilities. This Issue Brief details the benefits provided to these public servants[.]"  MORE >>