“That reasoning was flawed.” With those four words, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed that retirement plan fiduciaries’ responsibilities apply independently to each investment option. Offering a lot of investment options does not eliminate the responsibility related to each of them. Offering some cheap investment options does not excuse expensive ones. Offering some stronger performers does not excuse poor performers. The bad stuff is not okay simply because there’s also some good stuff.

This paper, written by Matthew Eickman, J.D., AIF®, national retirement practice leader, underscores why plan fiduciaries must take notice of this ruling. It will help plan sponsors and their responsible plan fiduciaries to assess whether the ruling is a really big deal or no big deal at all. In either scenario, this White Paper provides a set of best practices for identifying, understanding, and mitigating related risks.