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- Seniors’ Anti-Financial Exploitation (SAFE) Act of 2026
- Quantifying Fiduciary Prudence: Creating a Win-Win ERISA Fiduciary Prudent Process by Integrating The Fiduciary Prudence Trinity With AI and the AMVR and TWBVI Metrics
- Quantifying Fiduciary Prudence: In-Plan Annuities, Terminal Wealth, and the Terminal Wealth Breakeven Value Index
- Terminal Wealth As a Fiduciary Prudence Metric: Why ERISA Plan Fiduciaries Should Incorporate Wealth Preservation and Capital Preservation into the Evaluation of In-Plan Annuities and Alternative Investments
- Fiduciary Prudence Protocols: Proactive Fiduciary Risk Mitigation Strategies For Plan Sponsors and Other Investment Fiduciaries
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Tag Archives: ERISA
Quantifying Fiduciary Prudence: Creating a Win-Win ERISA Fiduciary Prudent Process by Integrating The Fiduciary Prudence Trinity With AI and the AMVR and TWBVI Metrics
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC ERISA § 404(a)(1)(B)1, imposes upon plan fiduciaries a demanding but deliberately flexible standard: fiduciaries must act “with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence” that a prudent fiduciary acting in a like … Continue reading
Quantifying Fiduciary Prudence: In-Plan Annuities, Terminal Wealth, and the Terminal Wealth Breakeven Value Index
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC Jonathan Clements was a well-respected financial writer for the Wall Street Journal. In 2005, he wrote an article about equity indexed annuities, nka fixed indexed annuities, entitled “Why Big Insurers Are … Continue reading
Terminal Wealth As a Fiduciary Prudence Metric: Why ERISA Plan Fiduciaries Should Incorporate Wealth Preservation and Capital Preservation into the Evaluation of In-Plan Annuities and Alternative Investments
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC Abstract Modern portfolio construction has historically emphasized maximizing expected returns for a given level of risk. Within defined contribution plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged 401k, ERISA, fiduciary, Fiduciary prudence, Fiduciary litigation, terminal wealth
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Fiduciary Prudence Protocols: Proactive Fiduciary Risk Mitigation Strategies For Plan Sponsors and Other Investment Fiduciaries
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC These protocols synthesize the fiduciary standards reflected in Supreme Court ERISA decisions and the Restatement (Third) of Trusts. 1. Loyalty Protocol Every decision must be made solely in the interest of … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged 401k, compliance, 401k compliance, ERISA, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary risk management
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Quantifying Fiduciary Prudence, Part I: Artificial Intelligence as a Fiduciary Risk/Liability Mitigation Tool Under ERISA
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC May It Please the Court: The question before this Court is not whether artificial intelligence should replace fiduciary judgment. It should not. The question is whether fiduciaries acting under the prudent … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged 401k, ERISA, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary liability, artificial intelligence, AI, technology
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Who’s Overseeing the DOL and EBSA? DOL FAB 2026-01’s Fatal Flaw Is Actually a Fiduciary Trap for Unwary Plan Sponsors
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC APPELLATE CLOSING ARGUMENT OPPOSING FAB 2026-01 May it please the Court: At its core, this case presents a simple but critically consequential question: Can the Department of Labor lawfully encourage fiduciaries … Continue reading
May It Please The Court: THE EBSA’s Legally Unsupported, Unfounded, and Bootstrapped Policies Create a Systemic Threat to Plan Participants and Plan Sponsors Alike and Must Be Rejected
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC The issue before this Court is not whether procedural prudence matters under ERISA. It unquestionably does. The issue is whether the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) may lawfully transform procedural prudence … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, Fiduciary litigation
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A Call for Senate Oversight Hearings: The Systemic Risk to Plan Sponsors and Plan Participants Created by the EBSA’s Expansive and Legally Unsupported Extrapolations of ERISA Fiduciary Principles
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) may not transform generally accepted fiduciary concepts into categorical legal mandates untethered from statutory text, judicial precedent, or established trust-law principles. This appeal presents a fundamental … Continue reading
DOL/EBSA Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-01 Is Not Entitled to Judicial Deference Under The Loper Bright Decision
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC In DOL/EBSA Field Assitance Bulletin 2026-01 (FAB 2026-01), the Department of Labor states its belief that its proposed legislation is entitled to legal deference. Nothing could be further from the truth. … Continue reading
Terminal Wealth: The True Fiduciary Prudence Paradigm with Regard to the In-Plan Annuity Scam
James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC A sound evaluation of fiduciary prudence must ultimately be anchored in outcomes, not just process—and in the context of long-term financial decision-making, the most meaningful outcome is terminal wealth. Fiduciaries are … Continue reading
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