Torrillo & Associates

  • Contact Us
  • 484-574-8782
  • Home
  • About
    • specialists
    • our team
    • Careers
  • Audit Process
  • Services
    • CPA firm partnership
  • Clients
  • Videos
  • Blog
 June 4, 2023

Current Benefit Plan and Audit Related News and Updates

Friday, October, 23, 2015 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, Forms and Procedures, News and Press Releases, Policy Updates, Retirement - 401(k), 403(b)

New Guidance on Economically Targeted Investments in Retirement Plans from US Labor Department

department-of-laborThe U.S. Labor Department has issued new guidance regarding economically targeted investments (ETIs) made by retirement plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ETIs are investments that are selected for the benefits they create in addition to the investment return to the employee benefit plan investor.

“Investing in the best interests of a retirement plan and in the growth of a community can go hand in hand,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “We have heard from stakeholders that a 2008 department interpretation has unduly discouraged plan fiduciaries from considering economically targeted investments. Changes in the financial markets since that time, particularly improved metrics and tools allowing for better analyses of investments, make this the right time to clarify our position.”

The Labor Department previously addressed issues relating to ETIs in Interpretive Bulletin 94-1 (IB 94-1) and Interpretive Bulletin 2008-1 (IB 2008-1). IB 94-1 corrected a misperception that investments in ETIs are incompatible with ERISA’s fiduciary obligations. On Oct. 17, 2008, the department replaced IB 94-1 with IB 2008-01. However, the department has now concluded that in the seven years since its publication, IB 2008-01 has unduly discouraged fiduciaries from considering ETIs and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors under appropriate circumstances.

The financial health of retirement plans and participants remains paramount under federal law. The new guidance, Interpretive Bulletin 2015-01, confirms the department’s longstanding view from IB 94-1 that fiduciaries may not accept lower expected returns or take on greater risks in order to secure collateral benefits, but may take such benefits into account as “tiebreakers” when investments are otherwise equal with respect to their economic and financial characteristics. The guidance also acknowledges that environmental, social, and governance factors may have a direct relationship to the economic and financial value of an investment. When they do, these factors are more than just tiebreakers, but rather are proper components of the fiduciary’s analysis of the economic and financial merits of competing investment choices.

Additional information is available at www.dol.gov/ebsa/.

Tagged under: 401(k), 403(b), DOL, EBSA, ERISA, Plan Fiduciary Update

What you can read next

IRS Terminating Proposed Penalty Notices for Untimely Filed or Incomplete Forms 5500
403(b) Pre-Approved Plan Program Established
New Revenue Procedures for the Employee Plan Compliance Resolution System, including 403(b) Plan Failures

Recent Posts

  • Guidance on Section 305 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 with Respect to Expansion of EPCRS (Notice 2023-43)

    Recently the Internal Revenue Service released ...
  • IRS Proposed Regulation on Use of Forfeitures

    In February of 2023, the IRS proposed regulatio...
  • DOL ISSUES CHANGES TO 2023 FORM 5500

    The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Interna...

Categories

  • Employee Benefit Plans
  • Forms and Procedures
  • News and Press Releases
  • Policy Updates
  • Retirement – 401(k), 403(b)
  • Uncategorized

Torrillo & Associates, LLC specializes in employee benefit plan audits, 401k audits, 403b audits, pension plan audits, and retirement plan audits. We are licensed in 7 states including New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  With firm mobility, we are also able to practice in an additional 27 states.

36 Regency Plaza
Glen Mills, PA 19342

view on map »

Careers
Phone: 484-574-8782
Fax: 484-574-8785

  • GET SOCIAL
Torrillo & Associates

Copyright © 2010 to 2023 Torrillo & Associates, LLC. All rights reserved. v07.03.22.WPE| Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

TOP
X
Worried about your yearly Benefit Plan Audit? Call us now for a free consultation!
Call Us
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT