What Fiduciary responsibilities does an ERISA Trust have?
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) protects a plan’s assets by requiring that any persons or entities who have discretionary authority or responsibility, or provide investment advice or guidance, are subject to fiduciary responsibilities. Plan fiduciaries include, for example, plan trustees, plan administrators, and members of a plan’s investment committee. In the case of an ERISA Trust, Fiduciaries are obligated to run the plan solely in the interest of participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits and paying plan expenses. In addition, they must follow the terms of plan documents to the extent that the plan terms are consistent with ERISA. Trust Fiduciaries must also act prudently and must diversify the plan’s investments in order to minimize the risk of large losses. They also must prevent conflicts of interest, avoiding transactions on behalf of the plan that benefit parties related to the plan, such as other fiduciaries, servic
