News & Analysis as of

Retirement Plan Fiduciary Duty Investment Funds

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Overpaying for Underperformance: A Fiduciary Breakdown in Plain Sight

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

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

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Government Reopens Discussion of Private Pension Investments Expectations

Latham & Watkins LLP on

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Empower to offer 401(k) private equity investments to participants

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

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Modernization of DC Plan Investments

There is a growing interest from the retirement industry and policymakers to modernize 401(k) and other defined contribution (“DC”) plan investments by incorporating alternative asset classes and lifetime income features. ...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

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Lockhead-Martin sued for DIY TDFs

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

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

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

From Stable to Shaky: What Bed Bath & Beyond’s Settlement Means for Retirement Plan Sponsors

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

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

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

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

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

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

[Podcast] DOL’s 2022 Final ESG Rules

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partners Ira Bogner and Adam Scoll and law clerk Tanusha Yarlagadda discuss the Department of Labor’s final ESG rules issued on November 22, 2022, and how those rules...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Tech company agrees to fork over $1 million in class action case

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Avoid the nonsense about anti-ESG rhetoric

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

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Supreme Court Vacates Seventh Circuit Decision in Fee Case, But Reiterates Rigorous Pleading Standard Applies

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401, just one of more than 150 similar class action suits filed around the country in the last few years. The case was...more

Cozen O'Connor

Republican Attorneys General Object to Proposed Changes to Retirement Funds Fiduciary Rules

Cozen O'Connor on

A group of 22 Republican AGs, led by Utah AG Sean Reyes, sent a comment letter to U.S. DOL opposing a proposed rule that removes barriers for retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance...more

Snell & Wilmer

Final DOL Rule Imposes Fiduciary Limitations on Social Investing

Snell & Wilmer on

The DOL recently issued a final rule (“Rule”) providing guidance on the long-standing issue of whether ERISA fiduciaries are permitted to consider non-pecuniary factors while making investments (or selecting investment funds)...more

Foley Hoag LLP - White Collar Law &...

Supreme Court Set to Re-Evaluate Pleading Standards for Claims Alleging Breach of Fiduciary Duty of Prudence Under ERISA

On November 6, 2019, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument for Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander to expand on its “more harm than good” pleading standard articulated in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer. Both...more

Carlton Fields

Ninth Circuit Steps In-Line on Arbitrability of ERISA Claims

Carlton Fields on

The Ninth Circuit, in back-to-back opinion and memorandum decisions in Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., overruled long-standing precedent that ERISA claims are not arbitrable. The plaintiff, a former Schwab employee, filed a...more

39 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide