Tag: Fiduciary

Two advisory firms argue they are harmed by the “best interest” rule because it causes them a competitive disadvantage with respect to broker/dealers, and because the rule will increase rather than abate investor confusion.

A District Court has affirmed most of the recommendations made by a Magistrate Judge, who previously issued a memorandum concluding the ERISA fiduciary breach case should proceed.

Plaintiffs says defendants failed to properly monitor and control the plan’s expenses, and allowed the plan to become one of the most expensive “jumbo” 401(k) plans in the country.

The Investment Adviser Association says the SEC’s proxy voting guidance will increase costs for advisers and also increase barriers to entry for proxy advisory firms.  

Retirement plan fiduciaries at Intel are accused of exposing investors to bets on speculative areas of the markets.

As a general rule, “Doe pleading” is disfavored in federal court. However, the practice is not entirely forbidden, particularly where the identities of alleged defendants are unknown.

New York’s expanded “best interest” standard took effect on August 1st for annuity contracts and will take effect February 1, 2020, for life insurance policies. In a new decision, the New York Supreme Court calls the expansion “a rational and reasonable movement towards consumer protection.”

PCS and Aspire, both founded nearly two decades ago with the common goal of providing specialized services to investment fiduciaries, will join together to achieve the benefits of scale in an increasingly competitive marketplace. 

The Financial Services Institute and the Insured Retirement Institute have both published open letters opining against ambitious conflict of interest regulations proposed in the state.

A federal court has rejected the argument that defendants were aware that their predecessor fiduciaries had breached their duties in selecting affiliated funds and thus that they breached their own duties by failing to take adequate steps to remedy the original alleged breaches.

Advocacy and lobbying organizations representing the interests of brokers/dealers and investment advisers operating in New Jersey continue to voice their disapproval of the proposed regulations.

The Supreme Court will weigh in on the question of whether an adequately funded pension that is not in immediate danger of insolvency could have wronged participants and breached ERISA in the selection of poorly performing investments offered by an affiliate company.

Expert ERISA attorneys have been eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in a case called Kisor v. Wilkie. The complicated ruling issued Wednesday is the most significant of the term for the retirement plan audience. 

By the time the 5th Circuit vacated the DOL fiduciary rule expansion last year, advisory and brokerage firms had spent many millions of dollars to comply with the rule. Congressional Democrats want to know more about what’s happened since.

The affirmation once again shows how influential has been the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision known as Fifth Third v. Dudenhoeffer. It also presents an interpretation of how Fifth Third interacts with another significant SCOTUS decision known as Tibble v. Edison.