Webcasts Focus on Fiduciary Responsibilities

No Cost to Register for Two-part Program

TEXPERS STAFF Report

A webcast series by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration may be of interest to TEXPERS' retirement member system trustees.

The Administration is hosting Getting it Right - Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities: Webcast Series for Retirement Plan Sponsors from 1 to 2:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 17, and 1 to 2:30 p.m. CST on Tuesday, March 23. During this two-part series of webinars, participants will learn the basics of fiduciary responsibilities when operating a retirement benefit plan.

A fiduciary is a person, such as a trustee, who acts on behalf of someone else's interests. As a retirement fund fiduciary, a trustee is legally and ethically bound to operate in the best interest of a retirement fund's beneficiaries.

"The webcast series will help employers and service providers understand how the fiduciary responsibility provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) apply to employer-sponsored retirement plans, and provide information on how to avoid common problems in managing a plan," according to the Department of Labor documents outlining the program. "Specifically getting it right means understanding your plan and your responsibilities, carefully selecting and monitoring service providers, making contributions on time, providing appropriate disclosures to plan participants and filing annual reports to the government on time, and avoiding prohibited transactions."

In part one of the series, on March 17, representatives with the Department of Labor will discuss primary fiduciary responsibilities. In part two of the series, on March 23, the focus turns to ERISA's reporting and disclosure provisions for employer-sponsored retirement plans and the labor department's voluntary correction programs for retirement plans.

Attendees can register for an individual session or both. Click here to register for part one. Click here to register for part two. There is no charge to register for the webcasts.