The Past and Possible Future of ERISA Regulation of Advice
Could the 'NeverEnding Story' of the Labor Department's fiduciary rule possibly be coming to an end? We may be close to a final answer, writes ERISA attorney Andrew L....
ERISA
Sen. Warren Speaks Up for ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ Puts Down Annuity Sales Perks
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) new white paper details the sales incentives that annuity issuers offer insurance agents; the incentives, she says, show that the DOL's long-denied 'fiduciary rule' is...
Recurring Idea: Give the ‘Tax Expenditure’ to the Poor
The Penn Wharton Budget Model, a group that assesses new spending programs, calculates that, if the US Treasury eliminated the tax deduction for contributions to retirement plans, it could...
Should Participants Get Lifetime Income By ‘Default’?
The ERISA Advisory Council heard testimony on whether to tweak the rules for Qualified Default Investment Alternatives to accommodate—or exclude—annuities. Advisors to 401(k) plans should read this.
A ‘Nesting Doll’ of an In-Plan Annuity
ARS, State Street Global Advisors, Nationwide, Athene, Transamerica and Global Trust Company have brought to market the State Street GTC Retirement Income Builder, a target date fund with a...
This Year’s Legal Battles
The life/annuity industry faces three big legal issues this year. All stem from, or are complicated by, the patchwork regulation of financial products in the US, our out-of-date pension...
Of Athene, Pension Risk Transfers, and Fiduciaries
The ERISA Advisory Council recently heard comments on changing the criteria that fiduciaries use when vetting annuity providers in pension risk transfer deals. Athene's vice chairman defended his company's...
Advisers, Beware of PTE 2020-02: Wagner Law
ERISA expert Kimberly Elliott of the Wagner Law Group tells wealth managers how to avoid running afoul of the Department of Labor's Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 when counseling plan...
What’s up with the ‘ESG’ rule: Wagner Law Group
'Given that the slimmer Final Rule is no longer the stranglehold on ESG investing that the original proposal had been, the Biden Administration could decide not to expend its...
DOL Has Discouraging Words for ESG Funds
The DOL has never suggested that fiduciaries should pick a fund that subordinates financial performance to activism. But this proposal lacks the nuance or flexibility that the DOL has...
Project LIMA Aims to Solve the Annuity Puzzle
Milliman, the actuarial consulting firm, envisions putting a multi-premium deferred income annuity inside a 401(k) managed account as a way to turn tax-deferred savings into lifetime income. It seeks...
Two firms position themselves for the ‘open MEP’ market
TAG Resources, LLC, headquartered in Knoxville, TN, is a pioneer in the area of Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs), including creating and trademarking 'The Open MEP.'
‘Peeps’ Try to Peck Through a Pension Shell
A Pennsylvania maker of colored marshmallow ‘chicks’ wants to be the first company in a ‘closed MEP’ pension plan to stay in the plan but put all new hires...
‘Excessive fee’ case against Yale to continue
Yale is among more than a dozen universities to be sued over the past 30 months for allegedly failing to reduce the costs of their 401(k) plans and...
