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- Battle of the Best Interests – Whose Are the EBSA and the DOL Supposed to Serve, and Whose Are They Really Serving?
- Guest Article On Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear the Intel Case
- Fair Dinkum: A Critique of the EBSA’s Amicus Brief in Pizarro v. Home Depot
- Upon Further Review; The 3 X 3 Analysis That Shows Why Prudent Plan Sponsors Will Never Offer Annuities Within Their Plan
- The DOL’s Pizarro v. Home Depot Amicus Brief: Borzi and Gomez Don’t Live Here @ EBSA Anymore
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Category Archives: fiduciary prudence
Battle of the Best Interests – Whose Are the EBSA and the DOL Supposed to Serve, and Whose Are They Really Serving?
ThesisThe Employee Benefit Security Administration’s (EBSA) recent shift to interpreting ERISA in terms of procedural prudence to the exclusion of substantive trust law is inconsistent with the stated purpopse and goals of ERISA, as revealed in the Act’s legislative history, … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, ERISA, fiduciary litigation
Tagged 401k, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary litigation, plan sponsor, retirement plans
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Fair Dinkum: A Critique of the EBSA’s Amicus Brief in Pizarro v. Home Depot
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® THESIS THE BURDEN OF PROOF ON CAUSATION PROPERLY RESTS WITH THE FIDUCIARY DUE TO ERISA’S REMEDIAL PURPOSE AND STRUCTURAL INFORMATION ASYMMETRY I. ERISA’s Remedial Purpose Requires Burden Allocation That Enables, Not Defeats, … Continue reading
Implications of Section 78(3) of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts and the Expanding “Knew or Should Have Known” Liability Standard in the Era of AI
The fiduciary duty of loyalty, as delineated in Section 78(3) of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts, imposes a stringent standard on fiduciaries, including plan sponsors and investment fiduciaries. The language “knew or should have known” underscores the expectation that fiduciaries … Continue reading
ERISA 404(a) vs. NAIC Rule 275 -Wake-Up Call or Ticking Fiduciary Litigation/Liability Time Bomb for Plan Sponsors?
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® As a fiduciary risk management counsel, I’m often asked about my opinion as to the biggest risk management mistake plan sponsors make. To me, the answer is simple. The biggest and most … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k litigation, 401k plan design, 401k plans, 401k risk management, 401klitigation, 404(a), Annuities, best interest, DOL, ERISA, ERISA litigation, ERISA litigation, fiduciary liability, ERISA litigation, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary duties, fiduciary litigation, 401k, 401k plans, plan sponsor, plan sponsors, fiduciary law, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary litigation, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciary standard, fiduciarylitigation, pension plans, plan sponsors, risk management
Tagged 401k compliance, 401k fiduciary, 401kplans, Annuities, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary risk management, investing, plan sponsor
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3 Things Prudent Plan Sponsors Must Understand About President’s Trump’s Executive Order and Fiduciary Risk Management
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® President recently released an excutive order requesting that the DOL and other relevant regulatory bodies create guidelines and other measures, including safe harbors, that would allow plans to offer unnecessarily risk investments, … Continue reading
Posted in ERISA litigation, fiduciary liability, ERISA litigation, fiduciary duty, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary litigation, fiduciary prudence
Tagged 401k, defined contribution, ERISA, ERISA litigation, Executive Order, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary litigation, fiduciary loyalty, fiduciary responsibility, finance, investing, personal-finance, retirement, retirement planning
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“And Their Beneficiaries”: Annuities, Commensurate Return, and Fiduciary Liability
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® ERISA Section 404a-1 provides as follows: 2550.404a-1 Investment duties. (a) In general. Sections 404(a)(1)(A) and 404(a)(1)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA or the Act) provide, … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k litigation, 401k plans, 401k risk management, 401klitigation, 404(a), Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, Annuities, consumer protection, cost-efficiency, defined contribution, DOL, elderly investment fraud, ERISA, ERISA litigation, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary duties, fiduciary litigation, 401k, 401k plans, plan sponsor, plan sponsors, fiduciary law, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, Mutual funds, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement planning, retirement plans, risk management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k 401k plans, Annuities, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary riskmanagement, investing, investor protection, litigation, personal-finance, plansponsor, plansponsors, retirement, retirement planning
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May It Please the Court: Closing Argument on Palsgraf, Annuities, Commensurate Return and the Future of Fiduciary Litigation
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® May It Please the Court: In the landmark case of Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R.1, Judge Benjamin Cardozo held that “the risk reasonably to be perceived defines the duty to be obeyed.”2 … Continue reading
Fiduciary Risk Management 101: Mutual Funds
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® With all the recent SCOTUS decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University1, there has been a lot of discussion about Prohibited Transactions and Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs). That is understandable; however, it is … Continue reading
Posted in 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k risk management, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, closet index funds, compliance, cost consciousness, cost-efficiency, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, fiduciary liability, fiduciary prudence, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary risk management, Mutual funds, risk management
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Plan Sponsor and RIA Alert: Navigating the 78(3) Fiduciary Liability “Gotcha”
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® During a recent deposition I asked the plan sponsor if he understood the requirement under the fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty. His answers were your basic ERISA 404(a) language. When he … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 401k litigation, 401k plan design, 401k plans, 401k risk management, 401klitigation, 404(a), Annuities, compliance, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciarylitigation, pension plans, plan advisers, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance, RIA marketing, risk management
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k fiduciary, 401k litigation, 401k plans, Annuities, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary law, investment advisers, plan sponsors, RIA compliance, RIA marketing, RIA risk management
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A Question of Asymmetry and Fundamental Fairness: Observations and Comments from the Oral Arguments in Cunningham v. Cornell University
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® Listening to the recent oral arguments before SCOTUS in the Cunningham v. Cornell University case, I was both disappointed and encouraged by the questions and comments of some of the Justices. After … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k litigation, 401k risk management, 401klitigation, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary risk management, fiduciarylitigation, pension plans, retirement plans, risk management, SCOTUS
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, defined contribution, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary risk management, plan sponsors, retirement plans
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