Howard Pianko Quoted in Human Resource Executive
"HR Focuses on Retirement-Plan Governance"

Seyfarth Shaw Employee Benefits partner Howard Pianko was quoted in Human Resource Executive on July 18. The article discussed the concern held by U.S. companies to bolster governance of their retirement plans in response to the growing number of lawsuits, costs of benefits, volatility of investments and regulatory complexity affecting them.

Howard said, "Within the U.S., there has been a dramatic change in the number of companies that have developed [governance plans]." He named creating investment committees, charters and written guidelines as steps companies have taken to support governance. In the case of global companies, Howard noted they are still behind when it comes to monitoring retirement plans in other countries in which their plan members reside.

Historically, retirement-plan compliance was usually only managed by human resources departments, but today, committees are likely to include financial and legal representatives.

There is much debate, Howard pointed out, as to whether a CFO should sit on the investment committee due to potential conflicts of interest. The fiduciary committee's legal obligation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to act solely on the participants' behalf could pose as a potential problem. To avoid this, Howard stressed that it must be clear when senior management is acting in a fiduciary capacity when they are members of a governance committee.

Click here to read the full article: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533339716&query=pianko