Conversation with Former SEC Chief Economist Dr. Jessica Wachter on Investment Management Rulemaking at the Commission – PE Pathways
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
5 Key Takeaways | IRS Final RMD Rules & Proposed Regulations to Address SECURE 2.0 Act Issues
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” The order seeks to clarify the obligations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act...more
On August 7, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) aimed at broadening Americans’ access to alternative asset investments within employer-sponsored defined-contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans....more
On August 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration rescinded guidance from December 2021 that discouraged fiduciaries from considering alternative assets in the list of investment options...more
The Investment Company Institute (ICI) just confirmed what many of us have seen on the ground: 401(k) mutual fund fees keep dropping, and that’s great news for plan participants....more
On August 7, 2025, the Trump Administration issued a long-awaited executive order (the “Executive Order”) to encourage sponsors of 401(k) and other participant-directed defined-contribution plans that are governed by the...more
A massive new study by Abernathy-Daley covering nearly 58,000 corporate 401(k) plans delivered a simple—but startling—message: virtually every plan suffers from overpriced, underperforming funds. In fact, 99% of plans have at...more
AT A GLANCE - There is currently a disparity in the permitted investment options available under different retirement plans, putting participants of Section 403(b) plans at a disadvantage when compared with participants of...more
On June 25, 2025, the SEC’s Office of the Investor Advocate (OIAD) released its annual report to Congress on its policy priorities for fiscal year 2026. The office was established by Congress to focus on retail investor...more
Empower recently made headlines by announcing a bold new initiative: giving defined contribution (DC) retirement plan participants access to private market investments. On the surface, it sounds like a win—more choice,...more
On May 22, 2025, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to reject a class action lawsuit brought against fiduciaries of Intel defined contribution retirement plans that challenged the plan managers’ decision...more
On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more
Nothing surprises me much anymore, neither should the results of the survey that a Nasdaq 100 survey supports the inclusion of Nasdaq 100 index funds....more
The SEC staff recently published updates to its interpretations (CDIs) for Rule 10b5-1 – the insider trading exemption for pre-established trading plans....more
If you are a large 401(k) plan considering offering in-house funds, be prepared for potential lawsuits. Lockheed Martin Corporation and its subsidiary investment management company are facing legal action from current...more
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gained an increasing foothold in the wealth-management investment universe, with ETF assets under management currently about half the assets under management of mutual funds. As the ETF...more
In February, Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc.’s 401(k) Savings Plan Committee (the “Plan Committee”) agreed to pay $1,950,000 to participants in the Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan (the “Plan”) whose accounts were invested...more
In life, choice is usually a good thing. However, when it comes to daily valued 401(k) plans, too many choices aren’t a good thing. It sounds counter-intuitive, but too many choices offered to plan participants is usually a...more
Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - Introduction - On February 21, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) denied a motion to dismiss an...more
In August 2023, American Airlines, Inc. moved to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against the airline for allegedly jeopardizing employees’ retirement savings by investing in environmental, social and governance (ESG)...more
Coriant agreed to pay $1 million to resolve claims it violated its fiduciary duties under ERISA while administering its 401(k) plan. Coriant was an optical telecommunications company that was acquired by another company in...more
My wife forwarded me an op-ed piece, criticizing the Biden administration rule change on ESG investments in 401(k) plans. Obviously, the person writing it doesn’t understand how 401(k) plans work. ...more
Since the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern University, circuit courts throughout the country have issued varying rulings regarding 401(k) fee litigation cases. These include the Ninth Circuit in Trader...more
Investments in Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming more and more mainstream. Driven by outrageous returns, and presenting outrageous volatility and risk, both traditional institutional and individual...more
Finding things wrong with a 401(k) plan is very easy when a settlement in. a lawsuit has been reached. BTG International just settled a lawsuit where they are paying $560,000 in a settlement. The complaint stated that the...more
The introduction to my last two posts, SECURE Act Part 1 and SECURE Act Part 2, explained: There are two parts of the SECURE Act that I believe will have the greatest impact on my clients: plan sponsors and plan service...more