Considering Private Assets For The 401K?

Will private credit and other alternative investments become part of the menu for your 401k plan? For ERISA retirement plan sponsors, as options become available, understanding and diligently adhering to a prudent decision making process is essential. While 3(38) advisors...

Article

Cybersecurity: A Fiduciary Duty for Plan Sponsors

When you sponsor a retirement plan, it is tempting to assume your service providers have everything covered. However, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), selecting and monitoring these vendors is a fiduciary act. Because retirement accounts house highly...

Article

Just An Honest Mistake?

"I didn't mean to." In most areas of business, a genuine oversight can be corrected with a quick fix and an apology. But under ERISA’s standard of prudence, good intentions are not a legal defense. If you sponsor a retirement...

Article

Retirement Plan Compliance: IRS Tax Rules vs. DOL Oversight

Sponsoring an employee retirement plan comes with responsibilities to both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL). The IRS role in retirement plan sponsorship focuses primarily on tax qualification, while the DOL focuses on fiduciary conduct...

Article

Notifications: Plan Sponsor Responsibilities

When you sponsor a retirement plan, like a 401k, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring that participants receive all required information in a timely manner. This is true even if you outsource administration, including notifications to a third party: you...

Article

Why Are ERISA Bonds Required?

When you sponsor a retirement plan for your employees, they are trusting you with their money. A single act of fraud or dishonesty related to the plan funds can have a devastating impact. That’s why, for the protection of the...

Article

Cyber Failure Plus Fiduciary Breach?

Yes. When you sponsor a retirement plan, like a 401k, you are automatically a fiduciary, so in the event cybersecurity failures impact the data or savings of participants, you can face fiduciary breach allegations and be held personally liable. Even...

Article

Red Flags for 84% of Retirement Plan Sponsors?

Analysis of nearly 800,000 Form 5500 filings reveals that the majority of retirement plan sponsors have at least one “red flag violation.” Since both regulatory compliance and fiduciary shortcomings are a very big deal under ERISA, plan sponsors will want...

Article

Red Flags: Financial Distress?

No one wants to enter into a business contract with a project owner that is in bad financial shape. Sometimes, the red flags are obvious: like a media headline or industry report. More typically, signs of distress are more subtle....

Article

Arbitration vs Litigation?

  In construction, successfully fulfilling all contractual obligations is often way easier said than done.  Before disputes over errors and omissions turn into costly and time consuming court battles, try arbitration. In addition to saving time and money, arbitration can...

Article