Fiduciary Rules and Practices
The recent flurry of lawsuits against major universities on their (very large) 403(b) plans has raised significant concerns in the market related to what has been very common plan designs. In MarketBeat, Robert Toth discusses what the differences between 403(b) plans and 401(k) plans mean regarding...
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The advent of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule has already been having results, and more than half a year before implementation. The latest sign of its potency: advisor interest in training about regulations.That interest is up sharply, says the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute in a...
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A new report concludes that changes in response to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation will result in less movement of assets from workplace retirement plans.Lifehealthpro notes that the key findings of global analytics firm Cerulli Associates’ report, “U.S. Evolution of the...
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Much attention has been given to the new fiduciary rules (applicable April 10, 2017) for recommending distributions from retirement plans and rollovers to IRAs — but what about a recommendation to transfer an IRA from another adviser? Fred Reish takes on the issue in a recent blog post.Reish starts...
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Fiduciary duties, always a critical concern, have stood in sharper relief as the Department of Labor prepared and issued the new fiduciary rule. So it could be especially helpful to take a fresh look at best practices through which a plan fiduciary can not only meet the letter of the law, but also...
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A second, separate proprietary fund suit has been filed against a financial services firm — and a separate law firm is looking for plaintiffs to pursue litigation regarding Morgan Stanley’s 401(k).M&T Bank has been slapped with a second class action lawsuit (Allen v. M&T Bank Corp., W.D.N.Y...
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Apparently the Texas judge presiding over the challenge to the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation only wants so much help in considering the issues. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn has issued an order stating that she will only consider amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs filed by...
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Chevron has won dismissal of an excessive fee class action in a decision that rebukes several of the claims that have surfaced in recent litigation by the law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton.Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California...
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The first of the suits challenging the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation recently got its day in court.In oral arguments before Judge Randolph Moss on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs (the National Association for Fixed Annuities) tried to make the case for...
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Some argue that the DOL’s fiduciary regulations could be the death of variable annuities; others disagree. In MarketBeat, Ellie Lowder discusses the status and importance of variable annuities in light of the rule.
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The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule is likely to have many effects, and a heightened risk of litigation against those who provide IRA advice is among them, argues a financial management firm. Shelby George, Senior Vice President, Advisor Services at Manning & Napier, argues...
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An annual survey of 403(b) plans finds a growing, though still modest, focus on participant outcomes.While only 6 out of 10 (61.5%) employer respondents to the 2016 403(b) Plan Survey from the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) evaluate whether their retirement plan is meeting its goals, 37.5%...
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What do employers do when they are responsible as a fiduciary for the investment of a 403(b), but do not have control of the accounts because of the contractual arrangement? In Tech Talk, Ellie Lowder tells us.
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The law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton has filed four more lawsuits against multibillion-dollar plans that have allegedly “allowed unreasonable expenses to be charged to participants for administration of the plans, and retained investments with excessive costs and poor performance...
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Another broker/dealer has been accused of larding its 401(k) plan menu with investment options from mutual fund families that paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm, despite what are alleged to be “high fees, poor performance prospects, and availability of better-performing, lower-cost...
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While much of the discussion around the implementation of the fiduciary regulation has centered on investment recommendations, what about an advisor recommending his or her own services? A recent blog post by noted ERISA attorney Fred Reish notes that, effective April 10, 2017, the recommendation...
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Another lawsuit has been filed against a multibillion-dollar university retirement plan — but it’s not their 403(b) plan — and the law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton isn’t involved. This one, filed by Sanford Heisler, LLP, is a class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the...
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One could hardly read the headlines this past week without experiencing a certain sense of déjà vu. After all, it’s been not quite 10 years since the then relatively obscure St. Louis-based law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton launched about a dozen of what have come to be referred to as “...
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Another day, another “jumbo” university plan accused of not fulfilling its fiduciary duties, though this one has a couple of different twists.Adding to the seven such lawsuits already brought by the St. Louis-based law firm of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton is a new one brought against the Emory...
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You wanted that piece of cake. It looked delicious. But when you took a bite, the flavor was not entirely what you expected. That, according to a recent report, is the experience of some who have availed themselves of adjustments the Department of Labor has made to its final fiduciary rule — they...
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