Category Archives: Retirement Plans

Chief Justice John Marshall famously wrote in McCulloch v. Marylandthat “the power to tax is the power to destroy.” In today’s retirement plan business, I’d argue there’s a modern parallel: the power to assign a financial advisor to a particular … Continue reading →

Every few years, a new investment trend arrives with the same promise: higher returns, innovation, and the fear of being left behind. Bitcoin is the latest example, and while it may have a place in speculative portfolios, its volatility should … Continue reading →

PEPs were sold to the retirement plan industry as the answer to everything—lower costs, better governance, and less fiduciary risk for employers. What doesn’t get enough attention is the new layer of conflicts that PEPs can introduce, especially when the … Continue reading →

If there’s one thing plan sponsors should never forget, it’s this: innovation doesn’t suspend fiduciary responsibility. With all the recent buzz about private equity, private credit, and other alternative investments creeping into 401(k) plans, regulators are reminding the industry that … Continue reading →

Some plan sponsors believe that holding committee meetings automatically makes them good fiduciaries. I’ve sat through enough meetings to know that’s not true. A calendar invite doesn’t fulfill fiduciary duties. What matters is what actually happens in the room—and what … Continue reading →

There’s a growing belief in the retirement industry that technology equals quality. Sleek dashboards, mobile apps, and automation are valuable, but technology alone doesn’t make a great plan provider. If it did, fiduciary breaches would have disappeared years ago. Technology … Continue reading →

One of the hardest parts of being a plan provider isn’t the complexity of ERISA—it’s the incomplete information. Providers are often asked to solve problems without being given the full picture, and that’s a recipe for compliance failures that no … Continue reading →

I understand why some plan sponsors withhold information from their plan providers. Sometimes it’s embarrassment. Sometimes it’s fear of added cost. Sometimes it’s just not knowing what matters. Unfortunately, in the retirement plan world, hiding information never protects you—it only … Continue reading →

If you’ve been paying attention to retirement plan news lately, you know that alternative investments are no longer a fringe conversation. They’re front and center. The Department of Labor has now taken a significant step by sending a proposed rule … Continue reading →

If someone had told me 15 years ago that one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers would be partnering with a mainstream retirement plan provider to bring private market investments into 401(k) plans, I would have assumed they were … Continue reading →