Who are the responsible fiduciaries?
• Selection and monitoring of investments. • Accurate and complete administration. • Reporting and disclosure requirements. Who Are the Responsible Fiduciaries? When an employer establishes an ERISA plan, it is the initial fiduciary. The employer needs to decide whether to appoint individuals or committees to be responsible for those duties. If a plan committee is appointed, the committee members are fiduciaries and must perform their duties under ERISA’s “prudent expert” standard. If the employer keeps some or all of those duties, its officers or principals who perform those duties are ERISA fiduciaries. Further, the appointment of a fiduciary is itself a fiduciary act. Therefore, whoever appoints the officers or committee members has a duty to prudently select those persons and to periodically review their work to make sure they are doing their job. Typically, it is the Board of Directors or corporate president who appoints the fiduciaries. As a result, the Board members or the presi
