"These projects reflect priorities that guide DOL's enforcement activities, which are conducted by investigators in the agency's regional and district offices. This article provides an overview of areas of focus for retirement plans, which include cybersecurity, retirement asset management, and protection of benefit distributions."  MORE >>

"Employers may now allow employees to elect to have fully vested matching and nonelective contributions made to a designated Roth account under a qualified plan, or a Roth SEP IRA or Roth Simple IRA. For tax treatment and income tax purposes, the IRS treats these designated Roth employer contributions as if they were in-plan Roth rollovers ... Because of this reporting treatment, Form 1099-R must be issued for these contributions."  MORE >>

"[T]he Second Circuit held that 'unfunded vested benefits allocable to the employer,' as used in Section 1415(c), refers to the entire amount of liabilities transferred when an employer withdraws pursuant to Sections 1415(a) and 1415(c).... The decision represents a significant clarification of how withdrawal liability must be calculated when an employer is forced to withdraw from a [multiemployer plan] due to a union representation change." [Mar-Can Transportation Co., Inc. v. Loc. 854 Pension Fund, No. 24-1431 (2d Cir. Feb. 18, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Participants filed a proposed class action lawsuit ... claiming that the disclosures they were provided about the conversion of the pension plan to a cash balance plan in 1999 failed to inform them that the change could substantially reduce participants' benefits.... [The magistrate judge] determined that the plan satisfied its disclosure requirements at the time of the plan changes because participants were notified through a December 1998 letter of the conversion to a cash balance plan and the effective date. The plan's December 1999 summary plan description also disclosed the change and the impact on benefits." [Lorusso v. Northwell Health Pension Plan, No. 24-2785 (E.D.N.Y. mag. report Feb. 18, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Several recent federal district court decisions have focused on the scope of the ESOP diversification exemption and reached different conclusions as to whether ESOP fiduciaries can be held liable for failing to diversify the ESOP's non-employer stock assets.... Until there is further clarity from the courts or [DOL], ESOP fiduciaries should not assume that the diversification exemption bars all challenges to the investment of an ESOP's non-employer stock assets."  MORE >>

"[L]ack of plan awareness and understanding of plan features like employer match drive 60% of inaction versus perceived unaffordability of retirement savings at 23%.... 30% of employees indicated they did not know how the plan works or even how to get started.... More than half of Gen Z workers eligible to enroll are not participating (50.5%), compared with 38.3% of Millennials and 37.2% of Gen X."  MORE >>

"The important considerations for a change of recordkeepers are factors that affect participant outcomes -- that is, financial security in retirement.... Those relevant factors include the investments, participant services, and costs of the current recordkeeper as compared to those of the possible new recordkeeper."  MORE >>

"Advisors who want to know how state insurance regulators and state guaranty associations are handling annuity issuer liquidations now have a new example to watch: Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co.... The guaranty associations have posted a guide that explains how Continental General's assumption of the Colorado Bankers Life products works and what that means for the customers."  MORE >>

"Wealth managers can face challenges when using AI to prepare client materials or conduct investment research ... But it's the more complex client-facing technology that poses the 'biggest fiduciary risk' ... FINRA's latest annual report ... included a new section on generative AI, stressing that while FINRA's rules are 'technology neutral,' they apply to AI just as they do to any other tool, including those that help with supervision, communications, recordkeeping and fair dealing."  MORE >>

"While there has no doubt been a convergence of wealth and retirement planning in recent years, these days there are increasing calls for retirement plan specialists to utilize their fiduciary expertise to help plan sponsors with another major benefits challenge -- health care."  MORE >>

"The Trump administration is reorienting the [DOL's] approach to employee stock ownership plans, signaling it will pursue fewer lawsuits and investigations while focusing on awarding grants.... ESOP attorneys and advocates suggest the combination of re-calibrated enforcement, a forthcoming valuation regulation, and more education and outreach could lead to more employee-owned businesses."  MORE >>

"In 2011 and 2012, Alabama enacted major reforms to manage the runaway growth of the state's public employee pension debt. The changes, including higher retirement ages, increased employee contributions, and reduced benefits for new hires, were some of the most extensive in the nation.... Fourteen years later, the need for another round of reform is as great as ever."  MORE >>

"The [DOL] and [PBGC] still have not published inflation-adjusted civil monetary penalties for employee benefit plans for 2026.... [T]he 2026 penalties are supposed to be calculated by multiplying the 2025 penalty amounts by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from October 2024 through October 2025. However, due to the government shutdown, the [BLS] never released CPI-U figures for October 2025. This has left the agencies without a multiplier to apply to their 2025 penalties."  MORE >>

"[A]rbitration provisions may still be enforceable when applied in the contexts of benefit claims under a plan, but they do not appear to be a solution to class actions involving fiduciary breach claims. Plan sponsors who wish to apply an arbitration provision to claims for benefits under ERISA covered retirement or health & welfare plans should ensure that participants are properly notified of the arbitration provision, such as through a summary plan description (SPD) or summary of material modifications (SMM), and that participants and beneficiaries will be deemed to have consented to the arbitration provision through their continued participation in the plan."  MORE >>

"[S]pecific benefits that may meet the needs and desires of different generations [include]: [1] Emergency savings accounts; [2] Alternative work schedules; [3] Flexible retirement options; [4] Technical training; [5] New decumulation or innovative investment options for defined contribution plans; [6] Hearing benefits; [7] Menopause support; [8] Benefits that support brain health."  MORE >>

"A loan regime split-dollar life insurance arrangement can be an important option to provide retirement benefits to nonprofit executives ... Nonprofit organizations face unique challenges when designing competitive compensation packages for executives.... These rules create significant and immediate tax burdens on both the executive and the organization for retirement benefits that are intended to be paid out over multiple years."  MORE >>