PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
La Reforma Pensional en Colombia
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
Multiemployer Pension Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE 2.0 Act - Navigating New Retirement Plan Provisions in 2024 - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Qualified Plans — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Virginia Launches New Retirement Savings Program
Last year, we alerted you to the filing of several class action lawsuits alleging that plan fiduciaries violated their duties of prudence and loyalty under Title I of ERISA by applying forfeitures to reduce employer...more
History of 401(k) Plan Excessive Fee Cases. Once the Department of Labor’s participant fee disclosure rules for retirement plans became effective in 2012, the plaintiffs’ bar latched onto recordkeeping and investment fees...more
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
ERISA litigation has exploded in the past few years, particularly cases alleging excessive fees. Last year was the high-water mark for ERISA class actions with over 200 cases filed, an 80% increase from 2019. 2021 is on track...more
I always say that the reason I don’t have employees is I was once an employee too. I was never totally happy with pay and benefits and I don’t know if I ever could be totally satisfied where I worked. I was a good employee,...more
WHAT’S THE EXPOSURE? • Settlements up to $140 million • Last year alone, settlements of $17 million, $22 million, $24 million, and among others • Plaintiffs’ lawyers generally get 1/3 of the settlement amounts • Plaintiffs’...more
Chutzpah is nerve, shameless audacity. The best example of chutzpah is someone who kills their parents and asks the court for leniency because they’re an orphan. I’ve been in this business of ours for the past 20 plus...more
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Labor (DOL), is looking at an obscure and confidential “infrastructure” fee that Fidelity charges the mutual fund companies for putting their funds on its...more
On Monday, November 16, 2018, in AXIS Reinsurance Company v. Northrop Grumman Corporation, Case No. 17-8660 (C.D. Cal.), a federal district court in California ruled that an excess fiduciary liability insurer did not owe...more
Despite the change in seasons, there appears to be no change in the pace of complex and class action ERISA litigation. Investments in defined contribution plans—both 401(k) and 403(b) plans—continue to be the leading target...more
Editor's Overview - As we have observed on other occasions, the ERISA class action plaintiffs' bar has, for several years now, honed in on 401(k) plan fiduciaries and their decisions to select and retain investment options...more
If you have an account in a retirement plan where you work or you own an Individual Retirement Account, you may get financial advice about the assets in your account from an investment advisor, broker, planner, or insurance...more
I remember as a kid that there was a move to use margarine because of the cholesterol that was in butter. Who can forget those talking Parkay carton commercials? Of course, we later learn that many margarines had high amounts...more
I remember as a kid that there was move to use margarine because of the cholesterol that was in butter. Who can forget those talking Parkay carton commercials? Of course, we later learn that many margarines had high amounts...more
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule expanding the “investment advice fiduciary” definition under ERISA and modified the complex of prohibited transaction exemptions for investment activities as a...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued its first set of FAQs under the fiduciary investment advice rule (the “Rule”) and related prohibited transaction exemptions. In general, the Rule provides that parties providing...more
Investment Adviser AXA Wins Excessive Fee Trial - A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in favor of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) and its wholly owned subsidiary, AXA Equitable Funds Management...more
Editor's Overview - This month, we have re-published an interview of our colleague Seth Safra discussing the Department of Labor’s final regulation concerning fiduciaries and conflicts of interest. In this interview,...more
The Future Is Now For 401(k) Plan Sponsors. The future is here. When I was the head ERISA attorney at a New York based third party administrator (TPA), I left because I saw the future of the retirement plan...more
The New Fiduciary Rule: What It Means To Plan Sponsors - Bottom line: what does it mean? More than a dozen years ago, there was a medical report that dental plaque could cause heart disease. I thought it was some...more
The 8th Circuit's recent decision on "excessive fees" under ERISA, titled McCaffree v. Principal Life, is instructive for three reasons: - First, it adds to the line of circuit court precedents holding that an insurance...more
The class action complaint titled Bell v. Anthem, Inc., et al. (S.D. Indiana) raises a number of novel ERISA allegations that could be a preview of the future, especially if the DOL fiduciary rule is adopted this year. ...more
Below is an update on the "excessive fee" cases under section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Most of these complaints are now proceeding on the "sub-adviser" theory: that annuity contract-holders pay...more