Document Type
Response or Comment
Publication Date
12-13-2021
Language
en-US
Abstract
In my view, while it is a significant improvement over its predecessor, the proposed rule’s persistent relegation of job creation/preservation to the status of mere “collateral benefit” is a mistake and undermines ERISA’s duty of loyalty. In reality, job creation and preservation are inextricably linked to fund financial health. Relegating that fact to a mere collateral benefit means trustees fail to consider the effect on a pension of investing in projects that eliminate the jobs of the fund’s own participants, or ignore the benefit of creating new jobs and thereby new pension contributors. This runs counter to President Biden’s executive order 14030 noting the importance of “creating well-paying job opportunities for workers.” It also runs counter to the spirit and purpose of the duty of loyalty. I therefore urge the Department to designate job creation and preservation as an ESG factor material to the risk-return analysis under §2550.404a-1(b)(4), or as one “relevant” to said analysis, should the Department adopt a relevance standard in lieu of materiality.
Recommended Citation
David H. Webber,
Comment on Proposed Regulation: Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights
(2021).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/shorter_works/134
SSRN URL
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3984606
Included in
Labor and Employment Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons
