164 pages. "This document contains a proposed regulation that clarifies, and provides a safe harbor for, a fiduciary's duty of prudence under [ERISA] in connection with selecting designated investment alternatives for a participant-directed individual account plan, including asset allocation funds that include alternative assets. 

"The overarching goal of the proposed regulation is to alleviate certain regulatory burdens and litigation risk that interfere with the ability of American workers to achieve, through their retirement accounts, the competitive returns and asset diversification necessary to secure a dignified and comfortable retirement. This goal can be achieved only by clarifying that ERISA gives fiduciaries (not opportunistic trial lawyers) the discretion and flexibility to determine when designated investment alternatives, including those that contain alternative investments, offer the opportunity for participants to maximize risk-adjusted returns on their retirement assets net of fees....

"[T]hree key principles form the bedrock of the proposed regulation. First, there is a need to affirm ERISA as a law grounded in process. Second, ERISA gives maximum discretion and flexibility to plan fiduciaries in selecting designated investment alternatives ... Third, when ERISA fiduciary decision-making follows a prudent process -- such as the process reflected in the proposed regulation -- arbiters of disputes should defer to fiduciaries under a presumption of prudence."  MORE >>

"The proposed regulation explains the steps that managers of 401(k) plans should take when considering alternative assets as a component in their investment lineups and establishes a set of process-based safe harbors for plan fiduciaries to use when selecting designated investment alternatives.... Under the proposed rule, when selecting investment alternatives, plan fiduciaries would need to objectively, thoroughly, and analytically consider, and make determinations on factors including performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, performance benchmarks, and complexity. "  MORE >>