Should Fiduciaries Outsource Retirement Plan Investment Responsibility?
Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement recoveries are on the rise. A recent DOL report indicates that DOL recoveries have doubled since 2018 and tripled since 2016. As a result, fiduciary liability premiums have increased 35% since last year, according to a recent article by InvestmentNews magazine.
Fiduciaries are personally responsible for participant losses resulting from a fiduciary breach. Plan sponsor fiduciaries who handle plan investments themselves, or use advisors who do not assume fiduciary status, face potential exposure for both investment performance and all plan fees.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) specifies that any plan fiduciary level decision must be informed by expertise. Most plans do not have a credentialed investment expert on committee (if they do, that individual is typically not amenable to accepting the responsibility and liability involved). Plan sponsors can mitigate this liability for investment decisions (investment menu structure, selecting and monitoring plan investment options) through specific options available under ERISA.
ERISA 3(21) Investment Advisor
The most utilized mitigation option and perhaps most suitable for many plans is hiring an ERISA 3(21) investment advisor. An advisor acting in a 3(21) capacity is responsible for delivering unbiased prudent investment recommendations regarding the selection, and ongoing monitoring of plan investments. The DOL has made clear that it is the responsibility of the plan investment fiduciaries that the final selection be commensurate with their participants’ needs. Your advisor has access to a Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA) selection tool. This tool is used to determine and document the participant demographic investment appropriateness for a QDIA, thus eligible for a fiduciary “QDIA safe harbor”. This same tool can also aid in making an appropriateness determination for individual investments as well.
ERISA 3(38) Investment Advisor
Section 402 of ERISA allows plan fiduciaries to delegate investment responsibilities to, what ERISA calls, a “named fiduciary.” This named fiduciary is a 3(38) investment advisor who assumes all responsibilities for selection, monitoring, and participant demographic appropriateness for plan investments. The company is then left with only monitoring that the advisor retains a prudent analytic process (e.g., their analytic process does not deteriorate substantially from its original prudent level). The 3(38) advisor needs to work with the client to determine investment appropriateness on issues such as risk, expense, and style appropriateness, but once accomplished, substantially more meeting time is available for other important topics like fiduciary education, plan success, participant retirement readiness, and more.
CONTINUE READING RETIREMENT TIMES
READ THIS MONTH'S PARTICIPANT MEMO
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION
MCF Advisors, LLC (“MCF”) is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by MCF), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this presentation will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from MCF. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed herein to his/her/its individual situation, he/she/it is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her/its choosing. MCF is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the newsletter content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of MCF’s current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. If you are an MCF client, please remember to contact MCF in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing / evaluating / revising our previous recommendations and/or services. Please click here to review our full disclosure.