Tag Archives: fiduciary liability

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Fatally Flawed: Why DOL Administrative Bulletin 2026-01 Will Not, and Should Not, Withstand Judicial Scrutiny

ERISA
fiduciary litigation
fiduciary liability
404a
plan sponsor
401k
EBSA
DOL Bulletin 2026-01 Continue reading

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Is the DOL/EBSA Trying to Serve Two Masters? ERISA Section 404(a)’s Independent Investigation and Evaluation Requirements and the DOL/EBSA Proposed Rule on Alternative Investments

Is the DOL and EBSA trying to Serve Two Masters? The DOL’s proposed rule for alyternative investments suggests the answer is “yes,” given the known lack of transparency associaes with such products. Worse yet, it has been suggested that alternative … Continue reading

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The Active Management Value Ratio as a Cost-Benefit Framework: Integrating AI into Fiduciary Prudence Analysis

James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP EmeritusTM, AWMA®InvestSense, LLC I. Executive SummarySeveral years ago, I created a simple metric, the Active Management Value Ratio™ (AMVR). Since studies have shown that people are more visually oriented than verbally oriented, the AMVR … Continue reading

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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?

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

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