DOL and SEC Issue Guidance Addressing Potential Conflicts of Interest of Pension Consultants
An SEC staff report issued in May 2005 raised serious questions about whether some pension consultants are disclosing potential conflicts of interest.
The DOL wants to assure that plan fiduciaries are provided the information necessary to ensure that advice is objective and not influenced by revenue sharing and other arrangements that pension consultants may have with other service providers. The DOL and SEC jointly issued tips for plan fiduciaries to use in selecting and monitoring pension consultants, including a series of questions to be posed to pension consultants by plan fiduciaries.
