07.04.2026 12.32 CDT
The DOL’s proposed rule offers a structured approach to fiduciary decision-making—but key challenges remain.
DOL Offers New Safe Harbor to Fiduciaries
A proposed DOL rule introduces a “safe harbor” framework to guide how fiduciaries evaluate and select investment options.
The DOL’s new framework provides fiduciaries with clearer guidance and a more defensible decision-making process, but it does not eliminate the underlying tensions between investment innovation and plan realities.
02.02.2026 02.07 CST
H.R. 2988 proposes changes to ERISA fiduciary standards that may affect investment selection, service provider oversight, proxy voting, and brokerage windows.
Overview of H.R. 2988 and Potential Implications for ERISA Fiduciaries
The House’s passage of H.R. 2988 highlights policy proposals that may shape future ERISA legislative and regulatory discussions.
H.R. 2988 proposes changes to ERISA fiduciary standards that may affect investment selection, service provider oversight, proxy voting, and brokerage windows, reflecting broader policy debates that could shape future regulatory and litigation trends.
23.01.2026 02.34 CST
A new wave of ERISA litigation challenges employer oversight of voluntary benefit plans, raising questions about fiduciary duties, broker compensation, and plan governance.
The Next Wave of Fiduciary Challenges
New ERISA lawsuits target voluntary benefit plans, alleging fiduciary breaches by employers and brokers over commissions, fees, and plan oversight.
Recent ERISA class actions allege failures in oversight of voluntary benefit plans, extending fiduciary and excessive-fee scrutiny beyond retirement programs.
11.12.2023 03.30 CST
Recent court decision reiterates that provider fees are reasonable only of fiduciaries understand all income received by a provider as the result of providing services to a plan.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently clarified fiduciaries’ obligation to consider all revenue received by a provider—even indirect revenue from third parties. The ruling relies heavily on 2012 DOL regulations and could prompt fiduciaries to be more insistent in obtaining comprehensive disclosure from providers on all their sources of income.
14.12.2022 09.06 CST
New DOL guidance seeks to clarify relationship between ESG factors and ERISA fiduciary requirements.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued new final regulations that attempt (once again) to clarify how plan fiduciaries can consider the use of environmental, social and governance factors (“ESG”) in making plan investment decisions. The goal of these new final regulations was to walk back regulations, finalized during the waning days of the Trump administration in December 2020, that placed obstacles in the way of fiduciaries considering the use of ESG factors.