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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    ERISA

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, September 5, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will provide ERISA counsel, in-house corporate counsel, and plan sponsor decisionmakers with the tools to structure and implement appropriate investment committee policies and procedures. Our multi-disciplinary panel will provide best practices for selecting and training investment committees.

Faculty

Sharon Remmer
Partner
Ropes & Gray

Ms. Remmer is a partner in the employee benefits department and focuses on ERISA matters. With more than 20 years of experience, she advises clients across the asset management and private equity industries on ERISA issues that arise whenever a transaction involves plans or plan assets. Ms. Remmer works with private funds, hedge funds and credit funds on complex issues associated with the investment of plan assets under Title I of ERISA. Her experience ranges from structuring and administering funds to avoid holding plan assets, to advising managers on how to operate funds with plan assets in accordance with ERISA. Ms. Remmer has long been a trusted adviser to plan sponsor clients on all aspects of their fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA, including plan governance, ERISA fiduciary best practices, and the ever-changing regulatory environment regarding ESG. In addition, she works with private equity and other clients to address significant ERISA liabilities in transactions, with an emphasis on finding creative solutions for complex issues that might affect the deal. She also works with many hospitals and universities on employee benefits matters that are unique to tax-exempt institutions, including issues relating to 403(b), 457(b) and 457(f) plans.

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Carol I. Buckmann
Partner
Cohen & Buckmann, PC

Ms. Buckmann has advised global employers on U.S. and cross-border employee benefit matters for over 35 years. She focuses her practice on employee benefits and ERISA, dealing with some of the foremost issues in ERISA, including pension plan compliance, fiduciary responsibilities and investment fund formation. She has significant experience with complex pension law and fiduciary problems. 

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Gretchen Harders
Miscellaneous

Description

One of the best techniques a plan sponsor can implement to mitigate fiduciary risk is the installation of an effective investment committee. Sponsors must take care in establishing protocols to ensure committees operate within strict ERISA standards and employ robust fiduciary practices.

Attendees will benefit from a discussion of risk mitigation approaches that have the potential to help avoid breach of fiduciary duty allegations. This program will also address effective litigation-avoidance strategies and the importance of fiduciary liability insurance coverage.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the importance of appropriate and effective investment committee governance. Our panel will review best practices for the training and selection of committee members, litigation avoidance, and the relationship between investment committee governance and ERISA fiduciary liability insurance coverage.

Outline

  1. Importance of investment committee governance
  2. Investment committee best practices
  3. Vetting investment fiduciary committee risks
    1. Selecting investment committee members
    2. Conflicts of interest
    3. Training
  4. ERISA fiduciary liability insurance
  5. Avoiding breach of fiduciary duty claims

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What are the standards with which investment committees must comply?
  • What should plan sponsors consider when selecting and training an investment committee?
  • What are best practices to avoid breach of fiduciary duty allegations against plan investment committee members and to minimize their effect in the event such allegations are made?
  • What is the role of the investment professional in assisting investment committees with the selection and monitoring of investment menus, benchmarking of service providers and their fees, and other responsibilities?
  • What is the role of ERISA fiduciary liability insurance?