"[T]he SEC imposes a best interest standard on account recommendations by broker-dealers.... The DOL also imposes a best interest standard under its prohibited transaction exemption 2020-02 , which allows broker-dealers and their registered representatives to receive conflicted compensation resulting from non-discretionary fiduciary investment advice about a change of account types for a retirement plan or an IRA. To satisfy these rules, broker-dealers ... need to understand what constitutes an 'account type' and the best interest standard for recommending one."   MORE >>

"Investment management firm Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc. will pay more than $124.6 million to settle lawsuits filed by the [DOL] and private plaintiffs that alleged the firm improperly managed a 401(k) plan sponsored by DST Systems ... The agency sued Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb in 2019 alleging that the firm used a 'self-proclaimed investment strategy of 'non-diversification'' that resulted in losses for the plan's more than 9,000 participants."   MORE >>

"Verizon Communications Inc. has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a complaint from 2016 related to allegations of an underperforming hedge fund in its retirement plan target-date funds.... [Plaintiffs has alleged that] Verizon and its employee benefits committee failing to uphold its fiduciary duty in monitoring the performance of a hedge fund called the Global Opportunity Fund and not taking 'corrective action regarding the Fund despite obvious and long-term underperformance.' " [Jacobs v. Verizon Communications Inc., No. 16-1082 (S.D.N.Y. prop. settlement agrmt. filed Jul. 7, 2023)]   MORE >>

"The [DOL] rule will likely make it easier to wind down pension plans abandoned when the employer shuts down or a small-business owner dies. The department has been trying to address major problems in the abandoned plan process for years ... The current process allows court-appointed trustees to claim high fees from the plans and financial institutions to delay resolution, she says."   MORE >>

"CITs are leveraging the idea of providing the plan participants with an advantage for pooling their retirement assets ... In the wake of Secure Act 2.0, the foundations for a path that will allow CIT's to be utilized within 403(b) plans have been established but are still incomplete."   MORE >>

"When valuing controlling ownership interests, valuation analysts often restate above- or below-market items (compensation, bonuses, rent, etc.) to a fair market level to reflect what a hypothetical buyer would pay.... If you reduce executive compensation for valuation purposes, the share price increases, putting a heavier burden on the company when you redeem shares. The company, which already has reduced income from paying above-market executive compensation, may struggle to redeem shares at the established price."   MORE >>

"Participation among workers with access to 401(k) plans has jumped over the past five years from 72 percent to 83 percent in 2022 ... Some credit goes to the growing popularity among employers of automatically enrolling workers in their plans.... [O]nly about half of the people earning less than $30,000 were saving last year, compared with more than 90 percent of people earning over $100,000. "   MORE >>