The Investment Company Institute reported that
U.S. retirement plan assets reached $21.7 trillion
as of Sept. 30, 2013, which represents 34 percent of
all household financial assets in the U.S.1 The Department
of Labor reported in June 2013 that 88.7 million
Americans have defined contribution plan accounts,
based on data from 2011 annual reports.2 With so many
millions of people depending on these plans for retirement
security, the government has placed significant legal
requirements on the role of fiduciaries. Employers
that sponsor retirement plans are being put under an increasingly
high degree of scrutiny for their actions and
inactions with respect to the qualified and nonqualified
plans that they sponsor.
Plan sponsors are subject to fiduciary standards, but
do not always understand their role and obligations as
a fiduciary. To comply with the plethora of duties and
requirements governing plans, plan sponsors must understand
their role as a fiduciary, identify plan errors
and resolve those errors to reduce risks of noncompliance
and exposure to fiduciary liability and penalties
