This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to clarify fiduciary duties for pension plans with individual accounts where participants or beneficiaries control their investment assets. It specifies that fiduciaries are not required to select or prohibited from selecting any particular investment type, provided they offer a broad range of alternatives. Furthermore, fiduciaries should not favor or disfavor investments based on factors other than their risk-return characteristics, in the context of providing suitable investment options. Crucially, the legislation prohibits the Secretary of Labor from issuing regulations or subregulatory guidance that would constrain or prohibit the range or type of investments offered through a self-directed brokerage window . It also states that the selection of such a brokerage window by a fiduciary, or a participant's exercise of control within it, does not violate ERISA's diversification or prudence requirements.
This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to clarify fiduciary duties for pension plans with individual accounts where participants or beneficiaries control their investment assets. It specifies that fiduciaries are not required to select or prohibited from selecting any particular investment type, provided they offer a broad range of alternatives. Furthermore, fiduciaries should not favor or disfavor investments based on factors other than their risk-return characteristics, in the context of providing suitable investment options. Crucially, the legislation prohibits the Secretary of Labor from issuing regulations or subregulatory guidance that would constrain or prohibit the range or type of investments offered through a self-directed brokerage window . It also states that the selection of such a brokerage window by a fiduciary, or a participant's exercise of control within it, does not violate ERISA's diversification or prudence requirements.