"[T]he Court affirmed the D.C. Circuit's view that ERISA does not require actuarial assumptions to be selected on or before the measurement date, so long as the withdrawal liability is calculated as of that date. That approach conflicted with the Second Circuit's 2020 decision ... where the court rejected a withdrawal liability assessment based on assumptions adopted after the measurement date.... By adopting the D.C. Circuit's reading, the Supreme Court eliminated that disagreement and established a uniform national rule on the timing of assumption selection for withdrawal liability calculations." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The Court explained.... that the statutory language in 29 U.S.C. Section 1391's directive to calculate withdrawal liability based on plan assets and liabilities 'as of' the measurement date identifies the relevant valuation point but does not prescribe when the underlying assumptions must be chosen. The Court rejected the petitioners' argument that this language imposes a cutoff, emphasizing that it fixes the point in time for measuring liability rather than regulating the timing of actuarial decision-making." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Under the decision, actuaries for multiemployer pension plans are clearly able to set or change the withdrawal liability assumptions after the end of a plan year. The issue as to whether, as the D.C. Circuit held, the assumptions had to be based (or were based) on information available as of the end of the plan year will likely be the subject of future arbitrations and future cases." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Applying deferential review, the court declined to disturb the Trustees' reasonable interpretation that the Expulsion Provision permitted termination of a single bargaining unit without expelling all of Penske's other units.... The court next held that Central States' decision to expel Local 745 was not arbitrary or capricious.... Finally, the court affirmed dismissal of Central States' counterclaim seeking a declaration that Local 745's effective withdrawal date was 2021." [Penske Truck Leasing, L.P. v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan, No. 25-1738 (7th Cir. May 29, 2026)]  MORE >>

"A disciplined approach to uncovering hidden costs in portfolios can be critical to understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), improving governance, and fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities.... TCO addresses cost drivers across the investment value chain, from management fees to trade execution, settlement, and custody costs. Plan sponsors can achieve this with a bottom-up analysis of all cost elements and operational processes that prioritize risk management, transparency, and contract compliance."  MORE >>

"Among the nearly 40,000 comments through May 29, were hundreds, if not thousands, of identical messages from individuals both supporting and decrying the proposal as either a great opportunity for retirement plan investors, or a great danger to them."  MORE >>

"CFA institute warns that the DOL pathway allowing alternatives needs stronger Guardrails especially around target date funds.... [F]iduciaries must evaluate not only the Target Date Fund itself, but each underlying investment component individually.... [I]ncreasingly, Target Date Funds are being moved into weakly regulated state-bank Collective Investment Trusts (CITs) ... The fiduciary obligation therefore requires substantially enhanced due diligence."  MORE >>

19 pages. "[T]he Proposed Regulation is a crucial step in restoring balance, limiting meritless litigation, and reducing uncertainty and improving outcomes for retirement savers.... Certainty and predictability in legal standards are absolutely essential to our retirement system, and the NPRM is an important step.... We strongly support the NPRM because it generally adopts the framework the retirement community has recommended and because it has the potential to meaningfully improve the ability of tens of millions of Americans to save for retirement."  MORE >>