PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
Coronavirus-Related Retirement Plan Distributions, MPPPs, and Governmental 401(a) Plans
CARES Act – Retirement Plan Distributions and Loans: Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series
The SECURE Act: Significant Changes for Retirement Plans and IRAs
The Secure Act | How secure are you in your estate plan?
Podcast: Supreme Court May Resolve Key ERISA Statute of Limitations and Proprietary Fund Litigation Questions
The Corporate Law Report: First-to-File Patents, Hiring for Cultural Fit, Roth Conversions Post-Fiscal Cliff, and Global Corporate Insights
Employer sponsored 401(k) investment menu offerings may be getting richer in diversified assets, including private equity, cryptocurrency, and other alternative asset investments, based upon a recent executive order signed by...more
More than 90 million Americans participate in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans like 401(k)s, which have traditionally been limited to conventional investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. However, the...more
Historically, investments in private funds have been reserved for large institutions, defined benefit pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and very wealthy individuals. In recent years, though, the notable difference in...more
A new Empower survey has made some waves in the retirement plan industry. According to their July 2025 survey, a striking 68% of advisors already use private market investments—things like private equity, private credit, and...more
On 7 August 2025, President Trump signed an executive order intended to modernize the 401(k) investment universe, directing the Secretary of Labor to clarify the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) position on fiduciary duties in...more
The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) is once again carrying water for the annuity industry, this time urging the Department of Labor to retain a regulatory safe harbor that’s already obsolete. The safe harbor in question,...more
Department of Labor (DOL) watchers have experienced regulatory whiplash in recent years. During the Biden administration, for example, the DOL issued Compliance Assistance Release (CAR) No. 2022-01, which flouted its...more
On August 7, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to broaden retirement plan participants’ access to alternative assets—including cryptocurrency, private equity, private credit,...more
I t was 2001 when Aerosmith dropped Just Push Play, and while it was no Rocks or Toys in the Attic, it packed a punch. That title track? A distorted, energetic anthem about dropping the hesitation and just going forward. No...more
President Trump has issued an Executive Order (EO) that could reshape how alternative assets are treated in defined contribution retirement plans. The directive requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to revisit its past...more
The Trump administration is moving quickly to implement the president’s Aug. 7 executive order (EO) to expand retirement savers’ access to alternative investments in private markets through defined contribution (DC) plans,...more
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (Order) aimed at easing the path for ERISA fiduciaries to make “alternative asset” investments available to participant-directed defined contribution plan...more
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, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order designed to broaden access to alternative investments, such as private equity, commodities, real estate, and certain digital assets, for participants in...more
Shortly following our Legal Update regarding considerations for institutional investors investing in funds alongside retail investors, on August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (Order) entitled...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 7, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” This Executive Order has the potential to significantly change how retirement savings...more
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Order”) designed to increase access to investment in certain Alternative Assets (defined below), including private equity, through Internal Revenue Code...more
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (the Order) instructing federal agencies to expand access to alternative asset investments for participants in defined-contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)...more
When a plan administrator selects an insurer to provide annuities for a retirement plan subject to ERISA, it is engaging in a fiduciary act that must be conducted prudently. Mistakes in this process can expose the plan...more
On August 7, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors) that has been widely – and mistakenly – reported to open 401(k) plan assets to “alternative...more
Our Investment Funds Team breaks down a new Executive Order signed by President Trump intended to expand access for 401(k) plans to invest in private equity, cryptocurrency, and other alternative assets....more
A hotly anticipated August 7, 2025, executive order, "Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors" ("EO"), aims to reduce regulatory barriers and significantly expand access to "alternative...more
On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (the “Order”) aiming to facilitate the use of alternative investment assets, such as private equity, real estate, venture capital, digital assets, and hedge funds,...more
President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on Aug. 7, 2025, expanding access for 401(k) plan investors to alternative assets. This alert provides a summary of what the order does and does not do, and offers fiduciaries...more