In response to the SEC’s recent release of a “Staff Report Concerning Examinations of Select Pension Consultants” (read about it here and here), the SEC and the DOL have collaborated and developed a set of questions to assist plan fiduciaries in evaluating the objectivity of the recommendations provided by pension consultants. You can access the Tips for Plan Fiduciaries here as well as the press release here. The DOL warns plan fiduciaries that the Staff Report raises “serious questions concerning whether some pension consultants are fully disclosing potential conflicts of interest that may affect the objectivity of the advice they are providing to their pension plan clients.” Thus, plan fiduciaries are urged to use the questions provided in order to gather and analyze information about pension consultant practices in order to help plan fiduciaries prudently select and monitor their pension consultants so as to fulfill their fiduciary duties and obligation under ERISA.
The SEC provides the same Tips for Plan Fiduciaries on their website as well as an announcement here.