Wilde Capital Management – US Department of Labor – Slapped by the Invisible Hand

Leaving only 30 days to comment, the Employee  Benefits Security Administration under the US  Department of Labor proposed, on June 30, 2020, a rule change to Title I of ERISA “to confirm that ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to select investments and investment courses of action based solely on financial considerations relevant to the risk-adjusted economic value of a particular investment or investment course of action.” Just on the face of it this reads as an unnecessary overemphasis of what is already covered in ERISA section 404(a)(1)(A) which requires fiduciaries to act with complete and undivided loyalty to the beneficiaries” and making clear that these actions “be made with an eye single to the interests of the participants and beneficiaries.” For those following along at home in quarantine, you can find the proposed rule as “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments, RIN 1210-AB95”