The Prudent Investment Adviser Rules
Author Archives: jwatkins
Redefining Fiduciary Prudence for 401(k) Plan Sponsors
by James W. Watkins, III, J.D., CFP®, AWMA® The legal requirement for prudence, as defined in ERISA Section 404(a)(1)(B), is for a fiduciary to discharge his or her duties with: “the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent man acting in a … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, DOL fiduciary rule, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, investments, pension plans, plan sponsors, prudence, retirement plans, risk management
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, plan sponsors, retirement plans
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At What Cost?: Annuities, Cryptocurrency, and Fiduciary Law
A [fiduciary] is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is the standard of behavior….1 Fiduciary law is a combination of three types of … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, Annuities, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, Cost_Efficiency, ERISA litigation, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, pension plans, prudence, retirement plans, risk management, securities compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, plansponsors, retirement plans, trustees, trusts, trusts and estates
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Heuristics, Cognitive Biases and 401(k)/403(b) Fiduciary Decision-Making
The number of 401(k)/403(b) cases continues to grow. And it will continue to do so unless and until plan sponsors take the time to truly understand their legal responsibilities and adjust their plans accordingly. I am on record as saying … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, investments, retirement plans, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 401k litigation, 403b, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, plansponsors, retirement plans, trustees, trusts
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CommonSense 401(k) Prudence and Risk Management
Whenever I perform a forensic fiduciary advice on a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, I invariably find myself asking the plan sponsor and/or the plan’s investment committee the same two questions: Why do you have so many investment options? Why did … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, retirement plans
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1Q 2022 AMVR “Cheat Sheets”
On the 5-year cheat sheet, only one fund, Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX), posted positive incremental returns on both nominal and risk-adjusted returns. While DODGX passed the AMVR screen on nominal returns, the fund failed to pass the AMVR screen … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, fiduciary duty, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, pension plans
Tagged fiduciary, fiduciary investing, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, wealth management, wealth preservation
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Less Is More: Plan Sponsors and the Art of Fiduciary Thinking
When I read about the House passing the SECURE 2.0 bill, I had three immediate thoughts: “Annuities are sold, not bought.” “So, plan sponsors are going to be able to automatically force employees to contribute to non-compliant 401(k) plans loaded … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, Active Management Value Ratio, Annuities, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary standard, pension plans, prudence
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law
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Connecting the Dots: Correlation of Returns and Fiduciary Prudence
With SCOTUS’ recent decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University1, we now have what I like to refer to as the “fiduciary responsibility trinity” (Trinity). The Trinity consists of the Tibble v. Edison International2 (Tibble), Brotherston v. Putnam Investments, LLC3(Brotherston), and … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, closet index funds, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, pension plans, prudence, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investment advisers, retirement plans
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The “Fiduciary Prudence Trinity”: A Blueprint for Evaluating the Prudence of Fiduciary Investments
In my last post, I discussed the significance of three ERISA related decisions-Tibble, Hughes/Northwestern and Brotherston. I like to refer to these three cases as the “fiduciary responsibility trinity,” because I believe that, collectively, they will shape the future of … Continue reading
The “Fiduciary Responsibility Trinity”: ERISA Fiduciary Law After the Hughes/Northwestern Decision
SCOTUS recently announced its much anticipated decision in the case of Hughes v. Northwestern University.1The significance of the decision cannot be overstated, as it dramatically changes the “rules of the game” for 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans, Hughes was the … Continue reading
Posted in fiduciary compliance
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, retirement plans
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The #Northwestern403b Decision: What Next For Plan Sponsors?
This past Monday, SCOTUS issued its much anticipated decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University (#Northwestern403b) The original issue before the Court was whether or not the plan participants had properly plead their case in their complaint. The lower courts had … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, best interest, compliance, consumer protection, cost consciousness, cost efficient, cost-efficiency, Cost_Efficiency, ERISA, ERISA litigation, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary duty, fiduciary law, fiduciary liability, fiduciary liability, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, investments, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 403b, Active Management Value Ratio, cost consciousness, cost-efficiency, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, Fiduciary prudence, fiduciary responsibility, retirement plans
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The Prudent Investment Fiduciary Rules 
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