On April 10, NAIFA met with the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to express the association’s concerns about the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) proposed fiduciary rule. NAIFA reiterated its long-standing opposition to the rule, citing its probable impact on the accessibility and affordability of professional investment advice for middle-American retirement savers. Late that afternoon, OIRA sent the proposed rule back to DOL for finalization, canceling at least two subsequent previously scheduled stakeholder meetings.

On April 2, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its qualified plan asset manager (QPAM) rule. The rule is an amendment to prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 84-14. The rule, which imposes broad disqualifying provisions on retirement plan asset managers who have been convicted of financial crime, takes effect June 17, 2024.

On January 19, the Department of Labor (DOL), Treasury, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the disclosure requirements of SECURE 2.0. The agencies said they would use this input to “explore ways to make it easier for workers to understand their benefits.”

Bipartisan legislation to create a federal retirement savings plan has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The Retirement Savings for Americans Act (RSAA) was introduced on October 19 in the Senate by Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). In the House, the RSAA was introduced by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA).

In what turned into a partisan slugfest, on November 7, the House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on the impact of the Department of Labor (DOL) rules on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors surrounding retirement plan investment choices. Generally, the committee’s GOP members slammed the permissibility of considering ESG factors in evaluating the appropriateness of certain investments for inclusion in a tax-favored retirement savings plan. By contrast, Democrats say the ESG rule is timely and appropriate in the context of retirement savings plan investment choices.