Subcommittee reviews participant-directed plan fees after recent Supreme Court ruling; forfeiture use and per-head pricing discussed

The Retirement Plan Subcommittee on May 6 received a focused briefing on fees and participant-directed assets for the town’s defined-contribution plans, including the 457 plan, board of education plan, and 401(a). The briefing followed a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision referenced in the presentation and addressed record-keeping fee structure, fee-benchmarking results, and options for using plan forfeitures.

Adviser Tyler said the quarter’s topic was “fee focused” and that a recent court ruling (referred to in the meeting as the “Cornell Cunningham” matter) changes the litigation posture for plan fiduciaries, shifting to a presumption that sponsors must demonstrate fees are reasonable. “The idea now is that you're guilty until proven innocent with respect to, paying record keeping fees, and you'll have to actually prove that those fees are reasonable,” Tyler said during the presentation.

Benchmarking and fees: the advisers…