401(k) Sponsors Want Holdover Alternative Investments Guidance

Rachel Faye Smith is quoted in Bloomberg Law’s article, “401(k) Sponsors Want Holdover Alternative Investments Guidance.” The piece explores the 401(k) industry’s request for regulatory guidance from the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration on alternative investments such as private equity and cryptocurrency. Such guidance would help plan sponsors reduce fiduciary litigation risk under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when offering alternative assets.

Rachel noted that “short-term guidance may not be enough to discourage the plaintiffs’ bar from taking on employers that adopt alternatives without stiffer regulatory safeguards.”

“Short of regulators issuing guidance saying you can’t be challenged on adding alternative investments, from a fiduciary risk perspective, this does very little,” she added.

Read the full article (subscription required).