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Investment Management 401k Department of Labor (DOL)

Fox Rothschild LLP

Trump Executive Order Calls for Review of Alternative Assets in 401(k) Plans

Fox Rothschild LLP on

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

Troutman Pepper Locke

Retirement Revolution: Expanding Access to Private Credit in 401(k)s

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On August 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies, particularly the Department of Labor, to work on expanding access to alternative investments for participants in 401(k) and other...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Executive Order Seeks to Expand Access to Crypto and Private Investments in Defined-Contribution Plans

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

I Might Be In Oklahoma But I’m Not OK … Fiduciary Considerations Following Executive Order Allowing Private Equity in 401(k)s

Last week the White House issued an executive order directing the Department of Labor (DOL) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to facilitate 401(k) participants’ access to alternative investments, including private...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Is Your Defined Contribution Plan Ready for Alternative Assets?

President Trump has issued an Executive Order ("Order") to enable defined contribution plans (e.g. 401(k) and 403(b) plans) to invest in "alternative assets," such as private equity, real estate and digital assets. The Order...more

Mayer Brown

President Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking to Expand Availability of Alternative Assets in 401(k) Plans

Mayer Brown on

On August 7, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors” (the “Order”), which encourages the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) and other federal...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

DOL Sheds Light on the Fiduciary Responsibilities That Arise with Pooled Employer Plans PEPs

Ropes & Gray LLP on

On July 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued some new interpretive guidance as part of a request for information (“RFI”) about pooled employer plans (“PEPs”) and an employer’s fiduciary responsibilities that...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Crypto in 401(k) Plans? Sure—But Let’s Not Lose Our Minds

Well, that didn’t take long. In what’s becoming a routine political tug-of-war, the Trump administration (yes, back again) has rescinded the Biden-era Department of Labor (DOL) guidance cautioning plan sponsors against...more

Kilpatrick

The Ninth Circuit Rejects Plaintiffs’ Challenge to 401(k) Investments in Private Equity

Kilpatrick on

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

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Breached ERISA’s Duty of Loyalty By Allowing ESG Interests To Influence Management Of The Plan

Last week, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued the first-of-its-kind ruling on the merits pertaining to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investing...more

Carlton Fields

Changes for Producer Award Trips at IMOs? Fiduciary Rule Suggests Turbulence Ahead

Carlton Fields on

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its long-awaited retirement security rule, also known as the fiduciary rule, broadening the definition of who is an “investment advice fiduciary” under the Employee...more

Goodwin

Minding the Store: Unanticipated ESG Issues Affecting ERISA Fiduciary Supervision

Goodwin on

A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

DOL Expands Investment Advice Subject to Fiduciary Liability

Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more

Mayer Brown

United States: The Long Read - Lifetime Income Products in CITs on the Rise

Mayer Brown on

As recently noted by the US Department of Labor (“DOL”), since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), “the retirement plan landscape has changed significantly, with a shift from defined...more

ArentFox Schiff

Airline 401k Decision Illustrates Continued Takeoff of ESG Litigation

ArentFox Schiff on

A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

TRICK-or-TREAT? DOL Proposes Spooky New “Retirement Security Rule” That Would Expand the Scope of Fiduciary “Investment Advice”

Responding to the “terrifying” reality that conflicted investment advice is costing retirement savers billions of dollars each year, on October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed rules representing its...more

Jones Day

Congressional Republicans and State Attorneys General Challenge Biden Administration's ESG 401(k) Rule

Jones Day on

Republicans at the state and federal levels are challenging a Biden administration rule (the "Rule") intended to walk back Trump-era regulations restricting the ability of retirement fund managers to consider climate change...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Biden vetoes ESG proposal overturn

If your Department of Labor (DOL) proposes a rule, as President, you’re not likely to throw them under the bus and overrule them. In a move that surprised no one, President Joe Biden used his first veto to preserve a...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Senator wants crypto option, good luck

As Bitcoin starts inching back up, I’m in the black again and expect more clamor for crypto options in 401(k) plans. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, reintroduced legislation to create a law, the Financial Freedom Act...more

Verrill

Next Steps for Making Collective Investment Trusts Available to More Retirement Plans

Verrill on

Collective investment trusts (“CITs”) have become an increasingly popular choice for 401(k) plan investment menus over the past decade, consistent with a trend toward lower-cost investment options that has been driven, in...more

Miller Canfield

ERISA and ESG: Less Confusion?

Miller Canfield on

​​​​​​​Last year the Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposed changes to ERISA regulations that govern the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors in retirement plans, as well as fiduciary...more

Paul Hastings LLP

DOL Releases Final Regulation with Respect to ESG Investing

Paul Hastings LLP on

Over the last few years, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (the “DOL”) guidance and rulemaking with respect to considering environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors in Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974, as...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

‘Tis the Season… to Consider ESG Investments in Your 401(k) Plan

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

We recently summarized the regulatory back and forth of the past few years relating to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors and their impact on ERISA retirement plans and the fiduciaries that...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

I don’t get the push for ESG

While the Biden-led Department of Labor (DOL) has given the green light for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds within 401(k) plans, I don’t get the push....more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

DOL Warns Sponsors against Permitting Cryptocurrency-Related Investments on 401(k) Plan Investment Menus

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) last month issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 - 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies” (the “Release”) in which it strongly cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to use...more

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