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Recent Posts
- The Active Management Value Ratio as a Cost-Benefit Framework: Integrating AI into Fiduciary Prudence Analysis
- 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
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Category Archives: fiduciary compliance
DOL Advisory Opinion 2025-04A: Don’t Be Stupid!
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® As a fiduciary risk management counsel, I read the DOL’s recent Advisory Opinion 2025-04A (Opinion) with great interest. As I read the opinion, I kept remembering my father’s advice – “The good … Continue reading
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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 Returns, 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
“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
Pizarro v. Home Depot and the Future of ERISA Litigation
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® Right on the heels of its historical decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University1, SCOTUS is facing yet another crucial decision involving ERISA in Pizarro v. Home Depot, Inc2. Just as in Cunningham, … 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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With New Labor Secretary, Time to Update The Retirement Security Rule Litigation Opportunity Provided by Two Federal Judges
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA® Lori Chavez-DeFemer has been approved as the new Secretary of Labor. With time still remaining on the 60-day period that the Fifth Circuit granted the DOL to decide on whether the DOL … Continue reading
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