There is often a lot of confusion regarding the insurance needs of fiduciaries and retirement plan officials and whether an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) bond is the same thing as Fiduciary Liability insurance. ERISA bonds and Fiduciary Liability Insurance have similar goals, but are not the same. This article aims to better explain the differences of both, and clear up any misunderstandings.
Fiduciary liability insurance, sometimes called …
Last year it came to light that several prominent universities, including MIT, Yale, NYU, and Emory, were facing lawsuits by their employees alleging their retirement programs were being slammed with excessive fees along with other fiduciary breaches. Knowing that a plan is being reasonably priced is a vital fiduciary duty, whether you are providing employees with a 401(k)-type plan or a benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security …
In August several prominent U.S. universities made headline news when they were sued by a number of employees that alleged their retirement savings were fraught with excessive fees. The first three of these universities that hit the news were Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU) and Yale – each with retirement plans holding more than $3 billion in assets. Following on the heels of this news, it …
A Fiduciary Liability insurance policy is designed to protect the personal assets of company fiduciaries (trustees, benefits administrators) in addition to the financial assets of the company and employee benefit plans against lawsuits alleging plan mismanagement, and improper investing, insufficient funding, among others. But today’s policies go well beyond breaches of fiduciary duty and administrative errors and omissions; they have been crafted to address the complex and ever-evolving modern risks …
Fiduciary Liability and ACA ComplianceAs with other emerging litigation trends, the fiduciary liability landscape has become increasingly riskier today. Allegations against fiduciaries and plan sponsors of employee benefits (medical, life, disability) involve inappropriate investment options, misrepresentation of the risks of employer securities, allowance of excessive fees and expenses charged to plans and failure to administer plans as per the plan terms. What’s more, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or …
In January, an Eastman/Kodak employee filed a lawsuit against Kodak’s board members and other fiduciaries claiming that they breached their duties in handling the company’s retirement plan as it was heading towards bankruptcy. As reported in Reuters in January, the suit alleges that board members and directors of both the Kodak Employee Savings and Investment Plan and the Kodak Employee Stock Ownership Plan continued to sell shares to its workers …
