News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Investment Funds

Carlton Fields

Everyday Investor Participation in Private Strategies: What Role for Investor Advocate in SEC Drama?

Carlton Fields on

The SEC is under pressure to increase direct or indirect participation by everyday “retail” investors (consisting primarily of those who do not qualify as “accredited investors” under SEC Regulation D) in certain investment...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Trump EO seeks to expand access to alternative investments in retirement plans

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

ArentFox Schiff

EO Seeks to Expand Access to Alternative Asset Investments in Retirement Plans

ArentFox Schiff on

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

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Labor Dept. permits fiduciaries to consider alternative investments for 401(k)s

On August 12, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration rescinded guidance from December 2021 that discouraged fiduciaries from considering alternative assets in the list of investment options...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

Planning to Take Advantage of Executive Order on Alternatives in 401(k)s: Five Key Takeaways and Five Action Items for Managers

Ropes & Gray LLP on

On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued a long-rumored executive order (the “Order”) that calls for expanded access to private equity and other alternative investments for 401(k) plans and their participants. The Order...more

Goodwin

Trump Administration’s Executive Order to Facilitate Availability of Alternative Assets in Defined Contribution Plans: What Does...

Goodwin on

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

Mayer Brown

Crafting Credit Facilities For Defined Contribution Plans

Mayer Brown on

INTRODUCTION - Over the past 50 years, the retirement landscape has steadily shifted from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans. In fact, as of the fourth quarter of 2024, private sector DC...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Get the lowest share price possible

Here’s that in Ary Rosenbaum’s voice — clear, direct, with a personal anecdote to drive the point home: I’ve talked a lot about institutional share classes, revenue sharing, and the alphabet soup of fund share classes....more

Mayer Brown

Broader Investment Options on the Horizon for Section 403(b) Retirement Plans

Mayer Brown on

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

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Government Reopens Discussion of Private Pension Investments Expectations

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The Department of Labor has taken two recent actions that indicate where the approach to retirement investment policy may go under the new administration....more

Mayer Brown

Subscription Finance: Cascading Pledges

Mayer Brown on

Cascading pledges are frequently used in subscription finance to avoid legal impediments, avoid tax implications and mitigate prohibited transaction risk under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged "ESG Investing" Without Any ESG Funds

Troutman Pepper Locke on

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

Morgan Lewis

ETFs for ERISA Plans: Operational Barriers and Potential Benefits

Morgan Lewis on

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

A&O Shearman

Texas District Court ESG ruling has broader implications for ERISA plan fiduciaries

A&O Shearman on

On January 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) held, in Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., that American Airlines (“American”) and the American Airlines Employee Benefits...more

Carey Olsen

Fund Finance Laws and Regulations 2025: Assessing Lender Risk in Fund Finance Markets (GLI chapter)

Carey Olsen on

Carey Olsen have contributed to the Global Legal Insights – Fund Finance guide by authoring a chapter on assessing lender risk in fund finance markets. As the fund finance market continues to evolve, lenders will need to...more

A&O Shearman

ESG Investing Takes A Blow In Texas Federal Court

A&O Shearman on

On January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled, following a four-day bench trial, that an airline breached ERISA fiduciary duties when investing...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Massachusetts District Court Grants Motion to Dismiss 401(k) Fiduciary Breach and Prohibited Transaction Claims

A federal district court in Massachusetts dismissed ERISA fiduciary breach and prohibited transaction claims against 401(k) plan fiduciaries, ruling that the prohibited transaction claims were time-barred and the fiduciary...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Amendment to QPAM Exemption

On April 2, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL” or “Department”) released an amendment (the “Amendment”) to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14 (the “QPAM Exemption” or “Exemption”). The changes were proposed by DOL in...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Cascading Into Spring March 2024 - Cascading Security

With the increasing complexity of fund structures and the growing prevalence of US Pension Funds in the European market, we have seen an uptick in the number of queries particularly from European banks and funds around how to...more

Mayer Brown

Decision Alert: Northern District of Texas Expands Fiduciary Liability To Cover Non-ESG Fund Managers’ ESG-Related Conduct

Mayer Brown on

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

DLA Piper

Management Rights Letters: What they are, why they are important and potential traps to be mindful of

DLA Piper on

What are they? A letter agreement between a portfolio company and an investing venture capital fund which provides the venture capital fund with certain “management rights” that allow it to substantially participate in, or...more

Carlton Fields

Expect Focus - Volume I, January 2024

Carlton Fields on

Funds Not Caged by SEC Names Rule Amendments: Roaming Room Remains - The SEC recently adopted amendments to its investment company “names” rule that apply to most SEC-registered funds, including underlying funds in which...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Second Circuit Establishes Practical Pleading Requirement for Prohibited Transaction Claims Under ERISA Section 406(a)(1)(C)

The Second Circuit recently held that in order to state a claim for a prohibited transaction pursuant to ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C), it is not enough to allege that a fiduciary caused the plan to compensate a service provider...more

Cozen O'Connor

Republican AGs Appeal to the Fifth Circuit on Labor Department’s ESG Investment Rule

Cozen O'Connor on

A coalition of 25 Republican AGs filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in their lawsuit against the Department of Labor that challenges the implementation of a rule permitting retirement plan...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

American Airlines Moves to Dismiss Suit Challenging Inclusion of ESG Funds in Retirement Plan

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

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