Plan sponsors are concerned with fiduciary liability – about half as much as they are concerned with being sued over their-own fiduciary foibles. But what most plan sponsors fail to realize, is that proactively taking care of the “small stuff” when overseeing a qualified retirement plan can provide the over-all protection that will best serve plan participants. That just might keep plaintiff’s counsel away from your retirement plan!
It is incredibly difficult for plan sponsor fiduciaries to oversee plan participants, increase plan participation, monitor plan providers, analyze investment performance, understand risk-adjusted returns… and, run a company. But that is the charge of the retirement committee members who are fiduciaries. And, as difficult as that is, it is incredibly simple to insulate retirement plan committee members from much of the downside of being an unengaged fiduciary.
Pre-eminent ERISA Attorney Fred Reish of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath recently delivered a jaw-dropping account of exactly how an astute and knowledgeable retirement advisor saved-the-day for an unengaged committee member, an entire retirement committee and a large university.
In Fred Barstein’s recent article in WealthManagement.com, he summarizes a presentation delivered at The Retirement Advisor University Anderson School of Management Executive Education. (Every plan sponsor should make the WealthManagement.com article required-reading for every plan fiduciary on the retirement committee.)
Learn more from the article on litigation, fee-related issues, Collective Investment Trusts (CIT’s) and what traits contribute to being ‘a good retirement committee member’ and more by clicking here.
