Cleary Discusses Labor Department’s Proposed Rule on 401(k)s and Alternative Assets

By Elizabeth Dyer, Michael Albano, Alan Levine, Maurice Gindi, Emily Alfano, Julia Rozenblit, Maisha Kamal and John Mahon May 11, 2026 by renholding

On March 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (the DOL) published its heavily anticipated proposed rule entitled “Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives” (the Proposed Rule).^[1] Over the years, sponsors of private funds and other investment vehicles …

Private Equity, Public Capital, and Litigation Risk

By Ludovic Phalippou and William J. Magnuson December 17, 2025 by renholding

On November 20, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda called for the opening of 401(k) retirement savings to private markets. He observed that diversification has grown increasingly difficult to achieve through public securities alone, and that private investments (in structures such as …

Trump’s Retirement-Account Order Is a Solution in Search of a Problem

By Edward A. Zelinsky December 16, 2025 by renholding

401(k) accounts are where most Americans put their financial assets.1 President Trump appears determined to prod them to invest those accounts in “alternative investments,” most prominently, private equity. To that end, in Executive Order 14330, the president ordered the Department …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses Executive Order Promoting 401(k) Access to Alternative Assets

By Elizabeth Dyer, Michael Albano, Alan Levine, Emily Alfano and Julia Rozenblit August 12, 2025 by renholding

On August 7, 2025, the Trump Administration released the heavily anticipated Executive Order, “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors” (the “Executive Order”), which represents a significant development and a positive step toward facilitating investment by defined …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses Court Ruling that BlackRock’s Inclusion as Investment Manager Breaches ERISA Duty of Loyalty

By Martin Lipton, David A. Katz and Elina Tetelbaum January 22, 2025 by renholding

The District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently ruled that a company breached its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) for permitting BlackRock’s inclusion as an investment manager of its employees’ retirement …

Arnold & Porter Discusses More Labor Department Changes to Retirement-Plan Fiduciary Rules

By Uri Horowitz, Douglas Pelley, Kathleen Wechter November 20, 2023 by renholding

In the latest development in a long-running regulatory saga, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on October 31, again proposed major changes (the Proposal) to the fiduciary rules applicable to the offering of financial products to most individual retirement accounts …

Should Labor Abandon Its Capital?

By David H. Webber March 3, 2023 by renholding

Public pension funds and labor union funds (together “labor’s capital”) have faced years of criticism from both the left and the right. The current battle between ESG and anti-ESG advocates, and the introduction of legislation at the state level trying …

Debevoise Discusses Shareholder Climate Activism and 401(k) Plans

By Alison Buckley-Serfass, Jonathan Lewis, Simone Hicks, Eric Juergens and Ulysses Smith June 13, 2022 by renholding

In December 2021, As You Sow, a non-profit foundation promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility, filed shareholder proposals on behalf of Amazon.com and Comcast Corporation shareholders for action at each of their 2022 annual meetings. The Amazon proposal and …

How Department of Labor Rules on ESG Leave Undirected Votes Adrift

By Neil Whoriskey February 26, 2021 by renholding

Just before year end, the Department of Labor finalized its new rules on ESG investing and voting for retirement and pension funds. The rules sharply restrict the ability of the fiduciaries of retirement and pension funds to make investments based …

SEC Chairman Delivers Remarks on Elder Investor Fraud

By Jay Clayton October 4, 2019 by renholding

Thank you all for being here this morning for the Roundtable on Combatting Elder Investor Fraud.

On behalf of the SEC, I want to say we are privileged to host such a dedicated group of experts and public servants. Protecting

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