The process of transferring assets is not without its own liabilities. The exact nature of the fiduciary risk depends on the nature of the transfer.
Tag "fiduciary"
CITs can only be offered within the confines of a trust relationship. That means the plan itself might be structurally different than one that has an investment menu limited to mutual funds.
In the spirit of the season, one might even think of this as “tricking” employees to save. Plans sponsors are already using these tricks.
The DOL seems to use the same metric that it earlier employed in its statement on the Fiduciary Rule. Still, the Advisory Opinion is very precise in what it allows. Citi will have to tread carefully to not cross the line into the realm of fiduciary.
These service providers bring in expertise and can engage the worker directly. Once set in place, the plan sponsor can step aside and let the system run on its own.
I don’t think the plan service providers should provide participant advice. Advice to participants should be provided by a non-related third-party fiduciary.
The DOL’s guidance on missing plan participants appears just as effective as its week 2012 Mutual Fund Fee Disclosure Rule. Yes, it’s there, but it has no viability. Still, that doesn’t mean 401k plan sponsors can ignore the issue, even if they have not lost participants.
The antiseptic compliance regime spelled out by the DOL and ERISA has to date defined fiduciary services. Perhaps, if we’re going to consider what is “beyond” that sterile definition, we might want to go back to the future. In a sense, rediscovering where “fiduciary” initially came from might suggest where it is headed.
Back then, at least, we knew who wore the white hats and who whore the black hats. Today, thanks to muddled and often conflicting regulations for multiple agencies, everyone is wearing fifty shades of gray.
Overall, nearly 1 in 5 companies still have not adopted auto-enrollment. There are common reasons why companies would not include auto-enrollment in their plans.
