"The DOL proposed a six-factor safe harbor to meet a fiduciary's duty of prudence when selecting designated investment alternatives under participant-directed defined contribution plans. The proposed regulation does not apply to brokerage windows or self-directed brokerage accounts under defined contribution plans.... By clarifying the fiduciary process affording discretion to plan fiduciaries to select investments, the DOL hopes the courts will follow through with deference."  MORE >>

"The proposal is an ERISA fiduciary-process framework. It does not resolve whether, or how, a plan can access certain investments under the federal securities laws and related regimes.... [It] also does not provide an easy operational solution to the practical liquidity challenges that can arise in participant-directed plans ... The proposal sets forth a checklist of topics fiduciaries should be prepared to evaluate for each investment option, using an objective and well-documented process."  MORE >>

"The department includes a lifetime income QDIA provision in the same new proposed regulations that would help plan sponsors add private equity assets, cryptocurrency, commodities, infrastructure investments and other alternative assets to 401(k) plan investment option menus.... [DOL] included an example ... showing how a plan fiduciary could show that the fiduciary had taken a prudent approach to making a variable annuity that provides a lifetime stream of retirement income a QDIA, even if that meant locking a participant's assets into the annuity contract."  MORE >>

"Drawing a distinction between defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans, the court rejected certification of the claims under Federal Rule 23(b)(1). It also reversed and remanded for further consideration whether the commonality standard under Federal Rule 23(a)(2) is satisfied where not all of the challenged investment funds appeared to generate losses ... If adopted elsewhere, the ruling could lead to a substantial 'rethink' by, on the one hand, the plaintiffs' bar in choosing which cases to prosecute and, on the other hand, the defense bar in choosing defense strategies and the time to implement them." [Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc., No. 24-1880 (4th Cir. Mar. 10, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[These cases] shine a spotlight on the critical legal question: does ERISA implicitly require that the assumptions used to convert benefit options satisfy a reasonableness standard? ... [S]hortly after the Sixth Circuit ruled on these cases, the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri came to the opposite conclusion ... ruling that no reasonableness standard applies." [Reichert v. Kellogg, No. 24-1442, consol. Watt v. FedEx, No. 24-5945 (6th Cir. Mar. 16, 2026); Landel v. Olin Corp., No. 25-0096 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 20, 2026)]  MORE >>

"In entering judgment for the company-side defendants, the court held that 'no reasonable jury could find that the two-step releveraging transaction was anything but a corporate decision' outside of ERISA's scope that was 'made with the financial health of the company in mind.' As such, the members of the company's board of directors and/or executive management team could not be liable as ERISA fiduciaries, except to the extent they had a duty to monitor the trustee." [Shipp v. Central States Mfg., Inc., No. 23-5215 (W.D. Ark. Mar. 30, 2026)]  MORE >>

"To address President Trump's August 2025 Executive Order that prompted the rule, EBSA took two specific steps. First, it affirmed that ERISA 'is a law of process' ... that gives plan fiduciaries discretion and flexibility in choosing plan investments and confirmed that they are entitled to deference by courts if their discretionary decisions are challenged.... 'The proposed rule is asset-neutral, meaning that responsible fiduciaries decide what investments go into a retirement plan, not plaintiff lawyers or regulators,' [EBSA Secretary Dan Aronowitz said.]"  MORE >>

"[P]ushing back against some of the more recent wave of lawsuits seems prudent. But the DOL shouldn’t completely throw away what, to date, has been its main way of ensuring that employers manage 401(k)s responsibly. The quality management of all of our retirement savings depends on it."  MORE >>

"By smashing the ERISA-weaponizing trial bar cabal, Trump is freeing American savers from a paternalistic attitude that says 'Washington knows best' -- and private-market investments are too complex for average Americans to understand, to boot. In reality, alternative investments can provide real diversification for investors' portfolios; that's precisely why Wall Street elites have increasingly turned to them over the years."  MORE >>

"It remains to be seen what level of 'buy-in' will occur from individuals and employers. The initial funding of new accounts under the Treasury's pilot program might encourage parents to establish a Trump Account for their children to at least seed the accounts with those contributions. Trump Accounts also might be used as a wealth-transfer vehicle if parents and grandparents make contributions on behalf of their children and grandchildren."  MORE >>

"It appears this lawsuit could have been avoided if the plan was drafted to specify that a surviving spouse had to be married to the participant when benefits commenced to be eligible for survivor benefits. Even if the lawsuit could not have been avoided, the employer's motion to dismiss may have been granted to end the lawsuit prior to discovery if the plan document was unambiguously drafted and the employer did not informally communicate to the participant and beneficiary that a survivor benefit was available." [Gervait v. The Coca-Cola Company, No. 25-2738 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 5, 2026)]  MORE >>