Investment Governance Blog

Johnny Depp v. TMG: What are a business manager’s duties of care?
The Question: What standard of care and what attendant duties does a business manager owe to their client? The Answer: It depends on what roles and services the business manager...

Reconciling the Duty to Diversify
The Duty “In making and implementing investment decisions, the trustee has a duty to diversify the investments of the trust unless, under the circumstances, it is prudent not to do...

ERISA §1104(a)(1)(A)(ii) re Duty to Incur Reasonable Fees
It is fundamental to a trustee’s duties to ensure that expenses incurred by the plan are fair and reasonable. However, when a plan is using one vendor to provide a...

An ERISA Trustee’s Duty of Loyalty
It’s hard to be an ERISA trustee. Many plan trustees have other pressing corporate responsibilities and few have the time or experience to become fiduciary governance experts. But fiduciary governance...

UPIA §2(c)(6) re Other Resources of the Beneficiary
The Conundrum: Question: Should the investment policy and distribution rate from a trust be informed by assets held by the beneficiary that are outside the trustee’s responsibility or control? Predictably...

ERISA §1104(a)(1)(C) re Diversification
US Code §1104(a)(1)(C) states, “A fiduciary shall discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries… by diversifying the investments of the...

ERISA §404(a)(1)(B) re Duty to Balance Risk and Return
Trustees are required to make hard investment decisions. They are to take into consideration the risk of loss and the opportunity for gain associated with each particular investment or investment...