Fiduciary Duties and Plan Governance:
After completing this course, you will:
1. Know and apply basic ERISA fiduciary terms.
1.1 Define a term in own words
1.2 Distinguish between correct and incorrect uses of a term
1.3 Select the term that best describes an idea, action, or event
1.4 Properly use new terms in assigned projects
2. Understand and Apply the Prudence Rule
2.1 Define the prudence rule
2.2 Apply the prudence rule in case studies
2.3 Describe procedural prudence
2.4 Work with counsel and trustees to suggest a procedural prudence process for a specific transaction
3 Understand and Apply the Duty of Loyalty
3.1 Define the duty of loyalty
3.2 Apply the duty of loyalty in case studies
3.3 Communicate with fund counsel to suggest preventative practices with respect to loyalty in specific case examples
4 Understand the purpose of diversification
4.1 Explain the goal of diversification
4.2 Classify types of asset classes
4.3 Understand diversification in context of the prudence rule
4.4 Communicate the plan’s investment philosophy to investment managers
4.5 Understand the role of ETIs in the diversification process
5 Understand and apply the plan document rule
5.1 Articulate the plan document rule
5.2 Work with fund counsel to identify areas of potential conflict between fiduciary actions and plan documents
5.3 Avoid violations of the plan document rule, particularly with respect to investment policy statements and proxy voting guidelines.
6 Understand the prohibited transaction rules
6.1 Define parties in interest
6.2 Define prohibited transactions
6.3 Define conflicts of interest
6.4 Describe the penalties for prohibited transactions
6.5 Identify class and statutory exemptions
6.6 Work with fund counsel to avoid prohibited transactions
For sample materials, click here.