"Employers might have to pay much more in the future when withdrawing from multiemployer pension plans. In a unanimous decision ... the U.S. Supreme Court ruled May 21 that actuarial assumptions for calculating withdrawal liability may be adopted after the last day of the plan year preceding the employer's withdrawal from the plan -- a decision that in this case could result in a payment six times greater than what the employers thought they owed." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Yet another set of 401(k) plan fiduciaries have been targeted with a fiduciary breach suit regarding “massive underperformance relative to that of well-established, prudently managed, comparable funds that Defendants could have selected for the Plan.”" [Clayton v. Aon Corp., No. 26-6026 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed May 22, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[The lawsuit] challenged the decision to invest in the Equitable Fixed Income Fund, which allegedly had investments in nine synthetic GICs offered by several large American banks and insurance companies.... Complicating matters was a contract with Alight Financial Solutions, LLC to provide recordkeeping services for the plan for which the plaintiff alleged received 'millions of dollars in indirect compensation from investments within the Plan' in addition to direct fees paid by Equitable." [Tedford v. Equitable Financial Life Ins. Co., No. 25-2180 (D.N.J. May 19, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Retirement plan advisors are no longer evaluating PEPs (pooled employer plans) as a new concept. They are working in a market where adoption is rising, assets continue to grow and employers have shifted the conversation from whether pooled plans work to which structure is right for their business."  MORE >>

"As workplace retirement plans consider options to support retirement income, individuals may be asked to make choices that involve tradeoffs between control over their money, access to funds, fees, and legal protections.... This study reveals people's values and interests by exploring how they respond to different retirement income options in workplace retirement plans and how their views change when key features and limitations are made explicit."  MORE >>

"Updating PTE 77-4 would better align the exemption with today's marketplace. It would give managers greater flexibility to offer plan participants diversified, professionally managed strategies -- including those with private market exposure -- within the familiar and well-understood ERISA compliance framework of PTE 77-4.... [E]xpanding the exemption ... would provide access to a broader range of investment options. More choice when paired with strong fiduciary oversight can support better diversification and long-term investment opportunities."  MORE >>

"The EBSA's emerging modus operandi reflects a recurring pattern of regulatory overextrapolation whereby narrow, context-dependent judicial observations are elevated into rigid doctrinal propositions.... While courts have long recognized procedural prudence as an important evidentiary component of fiduciary conduct, the EBSA has increasingly suggested -- either explicitly or functionally -- that adherence to procedural formalities alone is sufficient to establish fiduciary prudence under ERISA. That position is irreconcilable with ERISA jurisprudence."  MORE >>

"The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on May 21 advanced a series of bills prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from providing kickbacks or referral fees to intermediaries [HR 7895], requiring hospitals to adopt accurate billing practices [HR 8684], and extending the deadline for plans to file Form 5500 disclosures [HR 7362]. The bills, each affecting plans governed by [ERISA], may now receive consideration from the full House of Representatives."  MORE >>