That is the line committees cannot afford to miss. They cannot interfere, but they also cannot ignore. Those two verbs define the narrow lane that fiduciaries must stay in if they want delegation to work as intended.
Tag "Michelle Capezza"
Fiduciaries can follow every step of a prudent process and still end up with outcomes they did not anticipate. That’s not how fiduciary risk is supposed to work. Or at least, not how it used to work.
Once the regulatory gaps are acknowledged, the issue quickly shifts from theory to action. Plan sponsors are not just waiting for guidance. They are being forced to decide whether to engage with the Saver’s Match at all.
Private equity investments raise a second layer of fiduciary difficulty because they are not simply harder to compare. They are also harder to value, harder to redeem, and harder to explain to participants who may assume daily-priced plan options operate under familiar public-market rules.
Fiduciary litigation did not let up in 2025, and 2026 is seeing even more refined theories targeting 401k plans. Plan sponsors must look beyond procedural checklists to avoid the top governance pitfalls that trigger personal liability and erode participant savings.
Could Employer Matching On Trump Accounts Become The Next Fiduciary Recruiting Perk (And Liability)?
With contributions via employer programs not beginning until July 4, 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-68), sponsors who move quickly have a compressed window to design, test, and communicate the benefit. That compression creates both opportunity and risk.
When participants assume alignment without verification, problems remain hidden until they are too large to ignore. Misalignment doesn’t announce itself—it compounds quietly, year after year.
The broader plan-design conversation, including “Beyond Auto-Mania,” shows a shift from simple auto-features to guided, retirement-readiness approaches. That trajectory supports treating embedded income as part of a holistic, user-friendly design rather than a fringe option.
Seasoned advisors caution plan sponsors not to confuse delegation with disappearance. Every fiduciary duty can be shared. None can be erased.
What The $955 Retirement Savings Headline Gets Wrong (And Why Fiduciaries Should Care)
The $955 retirement savings headline sparked national alarm, but fiduciaries must look beyond shock value to understand what the data truly reveals and how to respond.