"[The Program] involves a commitment by Citi to pay all or some portion of the investment management fees for 'Diverse Managers' retained by Citi-sponsored employee benefit plans.... [T]he Department would not view Citi as a fiduciary with respect to the selection of investment managers under the Plans solely by reason of establishing the program or by paying or reimbursing the Plans for Diverse Managers' fees pursuant to its program commitments and in accordance with plan documents.... [T]he Investment Committees' members will not violate their fiduciary duties under ERISA section 403(c)(1) or 404 solely by virtue of considering as one factor in the selection process that an investment manager's fees otherwise payable by the Plan will be reduced or paid in full by Citi under the program.... [T]he treatment of the investment manager's fee in the calculation and disclosure of the fund's total annual operating expenses ... would not fail to meet 29 CFR 2550.404c-1(b)(2)(B)(2)."  MORE >>

"[DOL Advisory Opinion 2023-01A approves] Citibank's Diverse Asset Manager Program as it relates to plans subject to [ERISA]. The Opinion provides a road map primarily for pension and 401(k) plan sponsors who wish to increase the portion of plan assets that are invested with diverse investment managers without running afoul of ERISA's rules."  MORE >>

"[I]nvestment managers of Pooled Plan Asset Vehicles should assess whether their existing documentation includes language sufficient to get comfortable that either [1] investing ERISA plans are not subject to an IPS or proxy voting policy that conflicts with the IPS or proxy voting policy of the Pooled Plan Asset Vehicle or [2] to the extent an investing ERISA plan is or may be subject to such a conflicting IPS or proxy voting policy, the ERISA plan has expressly or effectively agreed that its conflicting IPS or proxy voting policy will not apply and that instead the IPS and proxy voting policy of the Pooled Plan Asset Vehicle will apply."  MORE >>

"The plaintiffs' bar continues to target retirement plan fiduciaries with ERISA class actions, but precise arguments at the pleading stage that closely track the developing standard and engage not only with the specific facts alleged but also those that are publicly available about alleged comparator funds can successfully defeat imprecise allegations of imprudence." [England v. Denso International America, Inc., No. 22-11129 (E.D. Mich. Jul. 28, 2023)]  MORE >>

"The RFI includes several questions targeting the paper statement requirement enacted in section 338 of SECURE 2.0.2 These RFI questions contemplate amendments to DOL regulations well beyond the provisions of section 338. Congress' directives to the Secretary of Labor in section 338 are clear, specific, and intentionally limited. This letter is intended to remind DOL of its obligation to comply with the statutory provisions of section 338, as limited by Congress."  MORE >>

"[W]hile improved market performance has helped lift overall satisfaction with retirement plan digital tools, for firms that want to differentiate and increase customer satisfaction -- whether in good markets or bad -- more work needs to be done on the digital front, especially when it comes to mobile apps."  MORE >>

"[T]he Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee ... approved the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (the SAFER Banking Act, S 2860) to provide protections for federally regulated financial institutions that serve state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. The legislation is now cleared for consideration by the full Senate."  MORE >>

"[In] a series of recent rulings, mostly emanating from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, courts have begun to question why ERISA civil procedure differs from civil procedures applied in all other civil actions heard in the federal courts. This article will outline several of the court-created problems with ERISA litigation and discuss what courts have begun to observe and point out, as well as discuss where this all may be headed."  MORE >>