You know something has really caught on publicly when a large company adopts it or starts offering it.
Greek style yogurt has been growing in sales for the past couple of years with Chobani and several other Greek yogurt labels dominating the market. Now Yoplait and some of the other larger brands have started to offer Greek style Yogurt. The same thing is happening with Gluten free products for those with Celiac disease, autism, or those who want to live Gluten free. While Gluten free products used to be hard to come by, Kellogg’s introduced Gluten Free Rice Krispies.
The same thing is with fiduciary services. There has been a proliferation of registered investment advisors serving as an ERISA §3(21) or 3(38) fiduciary.
So now many of the insurance company providers and now a payroll provider third party administrator are offering fiduciary services. Notice I said fiduciary services, which is different from an ERISA fiduciary. Some providers have been using fiduciary warranties which offer very little fiduciary liability help for plan sponsors and does not mean the provider is serving as a fiduciary. Just in the past 24-48 hours, a payroll provider is offering fiduciary services to their clients using an outside company. Is that company willing to serve as an independent fiduciary? I don’t know, I didn’t see it in the press release.
Regardless, a plan sponsor would be wise to see what is being offered with these fiduciary services because it does not mean the same as ERISA fiduciary. You may need to hire an ERISA attorney to check the details (cough, cough). Juice drink is watered down juice, fiduciary services may be a watered down fiduciary with no liability protection. A word to the wise when shopping for an ERISA §3(21) and 3(38) fiduciary that you get what you are paying for and not some imitation.