By Chris Tobe, CFA, CAIA June 14, 2022
Crypto, trying to bribe its way into 401ks via Congress and with providers like Fidelity, has exposed a non-transparent dark area of 401(k) that has been on the back burner – brokerage windows. A typical plan has 12 to 16 main options, but a brokerage window could add hundreds of additional choices that so far have escaped any oversight. Fidelity stated they would put crypto as a main option and prompted this response from the DOL
“The plan fiduciaries responsible for overseeing [cryptocurrency] investment options or allowing such investments through brokerage windows should expect to be questioned about how they can square their actions with their duties of prudence and loyalty.”[i
The DOL advisory council put together a report on brokerage windows that basically said they are so immaterial, that the DOL needs to give little or no oversight to them since those in the brokerage window are aware of the additional risks.[v]
A report cites PSCSA that
23.2 percent of all retirement plans offer a brokerage window, and nearly 40 percent of those with more than 5,000 participants do. Even though brokerage windows are being offered in many plans, participants do not use them widely only 1.5 percent of plan assets are invested through brokerage windows. DOL states that custodians saw a usage ranged from .03 percent to 3 percent. [vi]
Because of their size, less attention has been paid to brokerage windows both by the DOL and the plaintiff’s bar. But with the declaration by Fidelity to offer crypto as a main option within plans and the DOL doing its job by sounding concerns, people realized that there could be crypto investing already going on in brokerage windows, with most plans not having a clue.
Fidelity, who is the largest runner of brokerage windows and who cut the deal with bitcoin to put them on their platform, are most likely receiving millions of undisclosed dollars from the crypto crowd.
Crypto is pouring millions into DC lobbying, and seems shocked that DOL did their job and did not roll over like they did with private equity investments under Trump.
Bloomberg writes that
Under that guidance, which the DOL issued last month, employers could be responsible for risky crypto trades their workers make in workplace 401(k)s. The DOL’s employee benefits enforcement agency will launch what it’s calling “an investigative program” that requires plan officials to “square their actions with their duties of prudence and loyalty” if they allow crypto investments in self-directed accounts, according to the guidance.[vii]
“This is a very damning statement about brokerage windows,” said Lisa Tavares, a partner at Venable LLP and a former IRS attorney.”
Since almost all brokerage windows have excessive fees and many have excessive risks that do not pass fiduciary scrutiny, this opens up almost any plan with a brokerage window to potential litigation.
Leading plaintiffs firm Keller Rohrback LLP is investigating whether employees and retirees have paid unnecessary fees in connection with their use of brokerage windows such as excessive fees, selecting funds based on the amount of fees shared with the brokerage firm, and selecting more expensive share classes despite the availability of less expensive classes of the same fund. They have targeted particular large firms like Continental Airlines, Kimberly-Clarke, Lilly, and Caterpillar looking for plaintiffs.[viii]
In the article, “401(k)s with Bitcoin Should Expect Lawsuits: Lawyers,” trade publication “Ignites” quotes Jerry Schlichter as saying that
Any employer who would follow the Fidelity lead by offering cryptocurrency and 401(k) plan is exposing itself to very serious risk of a fiduciary breach…. As an unproven, highly volatile investment, Bitcoin would test the prudence standard under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act….The account will carry a fee of up to 90 basis points, plus undisclosed commission fees, which would be 20 times as much as a simple index fund.[ix]
The defense bar is trying to talk up a structure the digital accounts to qualify for 404(c) protections. Schlichter, however, suggested that 404(c) protections would not provide a safe harbor anyway. He pointed to a Supreme Court decision handed down in January that found that plan sponsors could not escape their responsibility for allowing imprudent investments in their plans even if they feature them alongside prudent ones. Schlichter represents the plaintiffs in that case, the plan participants in Northwestern University’s 403(b) plan. Quoting Schlichter,
“[The Supreme Court] said, ‘No, the employer plan sponsor has the duty to furnish only prudent options,’ and the same applies here.'”
Any 401(k) plans with a brokerage window will be subject to severe fiduciary liability unless they can prove they have provided 100% prudent options. This will most likely lead to much more litigation and many more settlements, as the cost of proving 100% prudent options will be extremely expensive.
[i] DOL Guidance Could Put a Crimp in 401(k) Brokerage Windows SHRM https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/dol-guidance-could-crimp-401k-brokerage-windows.aspx.
[ii] https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/05/27/crypto-money-is-shaking-up-us-politics.
[v] DOL Advisory Council on Pension Benefit Plans Understanding Brokerage Windows in
Self-Directed Retirement Plans December 2021 (“Brokerage Windows”).
[vi] Brokerage Windows, supra.
[vii] https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/new-crypto-guidance-rewrites-rules-on-401k-brokerage-windows.
[viii] https://krcomplexlit.com/the-newsroom/keller-rohrback-l-l-p-investigates-excessive-fees-401k-brokerage-window
[ix] https://www.ignites.com/lead/c/3622614/465124?referrer_module=t.co: https://uselaws.com/media-turns-to-jerry-schlichter-for-guidance-following-fidelity-bitcoin-announcement/
The CommonSense 401k Project 