Board-Ansicht
Mix-Ansicht- US/Rentenvers.: Untersuchungen stehen an - zani, 29.02.2004, 22:01
US/Rentenvers.: Untersuchungen stehen an
-->US puts pension plan trustees under the lens
REUTERS[ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2004 11:57:59 PM ]
NEW YORK: Largely ignored in the probes of improper trading in mutual funds have been the trustees of pension plans. But that may soon change. Massachusetts ’ top securities regulator reminded trustees this week that they, too, have fiduciary duties and must ensure the investments they oversee are protected.
William Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of the Commonwealth, said on Tuesday that those who make decisions for other employees or workers could come under scrutiny — the same as the companies that manage mutual funds.
Galvin’s comments are a timely reminder for pension plan trustees — who have received little guidance from the Labor Department, which regulates pensions. The oversight of defined benefit plans is typically greater than that over defined contribution plans, which are made up of the newer 401(k) retirement accounts.
Because of tax and income considerations, a company often has more at stake in a defined benefit plan than it would in a defined contribution plan, experts said. Regardless of the plan, trustees have an obligation to ensure that the interests of their participants and beneficiaries are protected, said R Scott Henderson, a lawyer who specialises in securities litigation and investment management at Bingham McCutchen in Boston.
“For pension plan sponsors, it’s not the self-dealing problem, it’s the problem of ‘Gee, should we be doing something in response to what we’re reading in the newspapers?” Henderson said. “That’s particularly true on the 401(k) side.”
Henderson said plan sponsors should be undertaking serious due diligence on the investment options of 401(k) retirement plans and look into whether market timing has affected the funds in the investment line-up for their plan. They should also ensure that the money managers they’ve hired are living up to the same strict, high fiduciary standards of behaviour that plan sponsors themselves are bound by, he said.
<ul> ~ pension plans</ul>
Thread gesperrtgesamter Thread:
