PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cybersecurity Considerations for Retirement Plan Sponsors
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Employee Benefits Considerations When Conducting Furloughs and Layoffs
Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more
On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued final regulations regarding investment fiduciary obligations and the definition of an “Investment Advice Fiduciary” (the “Final Regulations”) under the...more
The new “retirement security rule” package, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 31, 2023, is the latest chapter in an almost 15-year effort by the DOL to amend the five-part test in its 1975...more
Responding to the “terrifying” reality that conflicted investment advice is costing retirement savers billions of dollars each year, on October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed rules representing its...more
In the past year, environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices have faced heightened scrutiny in the United States from state attorneys general, state and federal legislators, other government officials, and...more
As Bitcoin starts inching back up, I’m in the black again and expect more clamor for crypto options in 401(k) plans. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, reintroduced legislation to create a law, the Financial Freedom Act...more
With the new Department of Labor (DOL) rules on ESG funds, it should be no shock that mutual fund companies starting mutual fund offerings for 401(k) fund lineups. Putnam has launched the Putnam Sustainable Retirement Funds...more
Collective investment trusts (“CITs”) have become an increasingly popular choice for 401(k) plan investment menus over the past decade, consistent with a trend toward lower-cost investment options that has been driven, in...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule (the “Final Rule) addressing how ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors in making investment decisions for retirement...more
As 2022 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered health and welfare plan...more
On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more
A recent release by the DOL raising concerns about plan sponsors allowing cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans has gotten the attention of both sides of the Congressional aisle as well as industry groups. Some of the...more
Fidelity Investments recently announced that it will offer its 401(k) plan clients the opportunity to offer bitcoin as a 401(k) plan investment option later this year. While this may sound intriguing to some plan fiduciaries...more
Fiduciaries of 401(k) plans and other retirement plans know that they must prudently monitor the investment options available to participants in the plan, but are they monitoring participants’ investments made through a...more
Many employers desire to offer innovative investments in their 401(k) plans as a way to enhance the plan’s value, attract talent and appeal to a younger workforce. But decisions regarding investment options are subject to...more
Among the many phrases of ERISA, one that is familiar to investment fiduciaries is the requirement to choose investments with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent person who is familiar with such matters...more
Cryptocurrencies and digital assets—such as bitcoin, ether and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—have become some of the hottest investment products in recent years. The growing interest has inevitably led to retirement plan...more
In recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) addressed cryptocurrencies as 401(k) plan investments. To the surprise of some and the delight of...more
On December 21, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance on the use of private equity investments in certain retirement plans, warning that most plan fiduciaries will not have enough experience to...more
If you thought the “Matrix” and “Spider-Man” sequels were impressive, you will be delighted to know that in a matter of weeks after revisiting its guidance on ESG retirement plan investments, the Department of Labor also...more
On December 21, 2021, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published a Supplemental Statement (the “Supplemental Statement”) to its June 3, 2020 Information Letter (the “2020 Letter”) addressing fiduciary considerations for...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") on December 21, 2021 issued a supplement (the “2021 Supplement”) to a June 2020 Information Letter (the "2020 Information Letter") that had addressed the possible use of...more
A recently proposed Department of Labor regulation entitled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” (the “Proposal”) addresses the duties of retirement plan fiduciaries when...more
On October 30, 2020, the US Department of Labor (the DOL) issued a final rule to codify standards for how plan fiduciaries must consider financial factors when selecting and monitoring plan investments (the “Financial Factors...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 30, 2020 released a final regulation (the “Final Regulation”) relating to the consideration of non-pecuniary factors by fiduciaries of employee benefit plans (“Plans”) that...more