Priority Pension Services
Why is Fiduciary Education so Important?
The role of a fiduciary is very misunderstood. There are many fiduciaries that do not even realize or understand that they are, in fact, fiduciaries. Why the confusion? Here’s what we know: A fiduciary is a person legally responsible for a retirement plan. In most cases, there is always more than one fiduciary on a retirement plan, unless you are an individual or sole proprietor.
Anyone who handles, makes decisions and/or has decision making authority over a retirement plan is a fiduciary. Fiduciaries include business owners, CFOs, CEOs, Finance Directors, Controllers, Human Resources Directors & Administrators, Investment and/or Retirement Committee Members, Trustees, Boards of Directors and Plan Sponsors.
Plan Sponsors have an even greater level of fiduciary responsibility. By signing a Form 5500, a plan sponsor attests that they are a 3(16) fiduciary and responsible for the day-to-day operations of the plan. For more information on what it means to sign a Form 5500, visit our Resources page for our 3-part series of articles entitled “I Sign the Form 5500, Parts 1, 2 & 3.”
Over the years, we have also discovered that many fiduciaries are not aware of the number of duties and responsibilities they have with regard to the administration and management of their retirement plans. This lack of understanding has led, in part, to the litigious environment with now live in. The SCOTUS ruling in the case of Tibble v. Edison, completely changed the landscape for retirement plan litigation and opened the flood gates to the numerous lawsuits we see today for excessive fees, failure to monitor investments, failure to monitor providers, and more.
This need for understanding inspired PPSAFI to put our extensive experience and expertise to work. We are proud to offer an array of complimentary workshops & seminars led by our Founder, CEO, and Leading Industry Expert, Dawn Feniello Bresssingham, specifically designed to educate retirement plan sponsors, business owners, CFOs, CEOs, controllers, human resources directors and administrators, investment and/or benefits committees, board members, trustees and decision makers of their fiduciary duties & responsibilities, ways to limit their exposure & liability, compliance issues and how to avoid them, updates on the latest regulations, and much, much more.
For more information about our upcoming workshops, webinars and events, please visit our Events page or feel free to contact us at info@ppsafi.com.
If you are unable to join us at an upcoming event, but want to learn more, feel free to also visit our Resources page for an extensive collection of articles and links.