Want ESG in Your 401(k) Plan? Labor Regulators Left You Options
A do-good retirement investing rule set to take effect in January will allow employers to consider participants preferences in selecting and monitoring 401(k) menu options, a first for the heavily regulated private-sector investment selection process.
The final environmental, social, and corporate governance investing rule published last week struck a largely conciliatory tone by eliminating what some retirement plan practitioners feared would become a mandate forcing ESG considerations.
The agency s new version of the rule largely reiterates the long-held principles that the economic interests of plan participants and beneficiaries are paramount. A retirement plan decision-maker held to a strict fiduciary standard of care has a duty of prudence and loyalty to consider the financial well-being of the plan s investors and their nest eggs, the rule states.
Well, good, if this is accurate.