Who is an ERISA fiduciary?
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is the federal law that governs standards for health and retirement plans administered by private sector employers. It requires plans to provide participants with accurate information regarding benefits and imposes fiduciary duties on anyone who exercises discretionary control or authority over benefits plans. Before deciding whether a breach of duty has occurred, it is necessary first to define “fiduciary” for ERISA purposes. A person who acts in a fiduciary relationship to another is held to a higher legal standard than an ordinary person, who may be merely negligent when committing erroneous acts that harm another. Fiduciaries hold plan assets in trust for beneficiaries and administer benefits under those plans; therefore they have a special legal duty to act in the best interests of those beneficiaries. ERISA specifically defines a person or entity as a plan fiduciary if that person: • Exercises any discretionary authority or disc
