WASHINGTON, October 12, 2022 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) today submitted comments critical of a U.S. Department of Labor proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 84-14, known as the “Qualified Professional Asset Manager” (QPAM) exemption.
“Retirement plans – and the workers and retirees that benefit from these plans – rely on prudently selected investment managers to help steward plan assets. Regulatory proposals that create new burdens and disruptions only serve to present yet another challenge to retirement security,” said Andy Banducci, Senior Vice President, Retirement and Compensation Policy at ERIC.
In a letter to the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, Banducci said that the proposal would pose broad, negative implications for employee retirement plans covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that include investment funds managed by a qualified professional asset manager (QPAM).
The ERIC letter emphasizes and details three concerns:
- The Department of Labor underestimated the burdens of the proposal’s required amendments to plans’ investment management agreements.
- As drafted, the proposal will disrupt plan operations suddenly when a manager becomes “ineligible” under DOL rules.
- The proposal would prohibit routine transactions and exchanges of information that ultimately benefit participants.
“The Department should simplify its proposal to ensure that benefit plans do not suffer unintended consequences from these new rules,” added Banducci.