Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 81694, Dec. 16, 2020.
(a) In general. Section 404(a)(1)(A) and
404(a)(1)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA or the Act) provide, in part, that a fiduciary shall discharge that person's duties with respect to the plan solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries, for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan, and with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims.
(b) Investment duties.
(1) With regard to the consideration of an investment or investment course of action taken by a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan pursuant to the fiduciary's investment duties, the requirements of
section 404(a)(1)(B) of the Act set forth in
paragraph (a) of this section are satisfied if the fiduciary:
(i) Has given appropriate consideration to those facts and circumstances that, given the scope of such fiduciary's investment duties, the fiduciary knows or should know are relevant to the particular investment or investment course of action involved, including the role the investment or investment course of action plays in that portion of the plan's investment portfolio with respect to which the fiduciary has investment duties; and
(ii) Has acted accordingly.
(i) A determination by the fiduciary that the particular investment or investment course of action is reasonably designed, as part of the portfolio (or, where applicable, that portion of the plan portfolio with respect to which the fiduciary has investment duties), to further the purposes of the plan, taking into consideration the risk of loss and the opportunity for gain (or other return) associated with the investment or investment course of action compared to the opportunity for gain (or other return) associated with reasonably available alternatives with similar risks; and
(ii) Consideration of the following factors as they relate to such portion of the portfolio:
(A) The composition of the portfolio with regard to diversification;
(B) The liquidity and current return of the portfolio relative to the anticipated cash flow requirements of the plan; and
(C) The projected return of the portfolio relative to the funding objectives of the plan.
(3) An investment manager appointed, pursuant to the provisions of
section 402(c)(3) of the Act, to manage all or part of the assets of a plan, may, for purposes of compliance with the provisions of paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section, rely on, and act upon the basis of, information pertaining to the plan provided by or at the direction of the appointing fiduciary, if -
(i) Such information is provided for the stated purpose of assisting the manager in the performance of the manager's investment duties; and
(ii) The manager does not know and has no reason to know that the information is incorrect.
(c) Investments based on pecuniary factors.
(1) A fiduciary's evaluation of an investment or investment course of action must be based only on pecuniary factors, except as provided in
paragraph (c)(2) of this section. A fiduciary may not subordinate the interests of the participants and beneficiaries in their retirement income or financial benefits under the plan to other objectives, and may not sacrifice investment return or take on additional investment risk to promote non-pecuniary benefits or goals. The weight given to any pecuniary factor by a fiduciary should appropriately reflect a prudent assessment of its impact on risk-return.
(2) Notwithstanding the requirements of
paragraph (c)(1) of this section, when choosing between or among investment alternatives that the plan fiduciary is unable to distinguish on the basis of pecuniary factors alone, the fiduciary may use non-pecuniary factors as the deciding factor in the investment decision provided that the fiduciary documents:
(i) Why pecuniary factors were not sufficient to select the investment or investment course of action;
(ii) How the selected investment compares to the alternative investments with regard to the factors listed in paragraphs (b)(2)(ii)(A) through (C) of this section; and
(iii) How the chosen non-pecuniary factor or factors are consistent with the interests of participants and beneficiaries in their retirement income or financial benefits under the plan.
(d) Investment alternatives for participant-directed individual account plans.
(1) The standards set forth in paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section apply to a fiduciary's selection or retention of designated investment alternatives available to participants and beneficiaries in an individual account plan.
(2) In the case of selection or retention of investment alternatives for an individual account plan that allows plan participants and beneficiaries to choose from a broad range of investment alternatives as defined in
§ 2550.404c-1(b)(3), a fiduciary is not prohibited from considering or including an investment fund, product, or model portfolio as a designated investment alternative solely because the fund, product, or model portfolio promotes, seeks, or supports one or more non-pecuniary goals, provided that:
(i) The fiduciary satisfies the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section in selecting or retaining any such investment fund, product, or model portfolio; and
(ii) The investment fund, product, or model portfolio is not added or retained as, or as a component of, a qualified default investment alternative described in
§ 2550.404c-5 if its investment objectives or goals or its principal investment strategies include, consider, or indicate the use of one or more non-pecuniary factors.
(f) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
(1) The term
investment duties means any duties imposed upon, or assumed or undertaken by, a person in connection with the investment of plan assets which make or will make such person a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan or which are performed by such person as a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan as defined in
section 3(21)(A)(i) or (ii) of the Act.
(2) The term investment course of action means any series or program of investments or actions related to a fiduciary's performance of the fiduciary's investment duties, and includes the selection of an investment fund as a plan investment, or in the case of an individual account plan, a designated investment alternative under the plan.
(3) The term
pecuniary factor means a factor that a fiduciary prudently determines is expected to have a material effect on the risk and/or return of an investment based on appropriate investment horizons consistent with the plan's investment objectives and the funding policy established pursuant to
section 402(b)(1) of ERISA.
(4) The term plan means an employee benefit plan to which Title I of the Act applies.
(5) The term designated investment alternative means any investment alternative designated by the plan into which participants and beneficiaries may direct the investment of assets held in, or contributed to, their individual accounts. The term “designated investment alternative” shall not include “brokerage windows,” “self-directed brokerage accounts,” or similar plan arrangements that enable participants and beneficiaries to select investments beyond those designated by the plan.
(g) Effective date.
(1) This section shall be effective on January 12, 2021, and shall apply in its entirety to all investments made and investment courses of action taken after January 12, 2021.
(h) Severability. If any provision of this section is held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any person or circumstance, or stayed pending further agency action, the provision shall be construed so as to continue to give the maximum effect to the provision permitted by law, unless such holding shall be one of invalidity or unenforceability, in which event the provision shall be severable from this section and shall not affect the remainder thereof.
29 C.F.R. § 2550.404a-1 — Investment duties. · eCFR amendment effective 2021-01-12 · https://pensionresource.website/EAMain?content=EAMain.Law&id=cfr29-2550.404a-1&asof=2021-01-12 · printed Oct 16, 2026