The 401k fiduciary typically searches for ways to reduce fiduciary liability. This can be done by hiring what the United States Department of Labor (DOL) terms “prudent experts,” particularly in the area of investments. The DOL permits a fiduciary to appoint, among others, a registered investment adviser to reduce personal fiduciary liability.
Tag "mutual funds"
Don’t ever buy a bond fund thinking you are diversifying into fixed-income assets. A bond fund more closely approximates an income-oriented equity fund than it does a fixed-income asset.
The Supreme Court will raise the visibility of the fee structure within the investments of nearly half of all 401k plan assets. Just because the powers that be say it’s so, doesn’t necessary mean your average fiduciary can rely on the decree. Indeed, the Supreme Court of the United States appears poised rule in favor of mutual fund shareholders, yet, at the same time, mislead both 401k investors and fiduciaries.
A mutual fund’s expense ratio represents only one factor in analyzing the appropriateness of a mutual fund as an investment. Other factors may in fact be more important (including, among other things, portfolio manager tenure, number of holdings, total net assets, investment objective and consistency of returns).
