Groom principal David Kaleda was featured in the PLANADVISER article, “DOL Publishes 1st List of Firms Using Qualified Plan Exemptions,” where he covered the limits and potential impacts of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) list of firms that have used or plan to use the qualified plan asset manager (“QPAM”) exemption.
PLANADVISER reported that Kaleda said that “it is important that plan fiduciaries do not see this list of disclosures as a ‘blessing’ by the DOL.”
“The DOL makes clear on the webpage that disclosure on the page does not … mean that the entity is in fact a ‘qualified professional asset manager’ or that an entity that is otherwise a QPAM in fact complies with the conditions of the QPAM Exemption,” he said. “That is, the DOL does not independently verify QPAM status or exemption compliance, and it is the responsibility of plan fiduciaries to make that determination.”
According to PLANADVISER, Kaleda also noted that “many organizations have multiple affiliates listed, showing that ‘each discretionary manager’ within a firm that wants to use the exemption must independently meet its requirements.”
The platform further reported that Kaleda said that he “believes the public disclosure requirement and web page will serve as an enforcement tool for the DOL. For example, if the regulator sees that a financial services firm is being convicted of certain crimes or has entered into a settlement related to certain crimes, ‘it may look to see if such entity or its affiliates are listed on the website. Then, it could use its investigation and enforcement authority to assure that the entity and its affiliates no longer rely on the QPAM exemption or get an individual exemption.’”
PLANADVISER noted that, according to Kaleda, “the web page is the ‘only centralized, comprehensive list of which I am aware available to the DOL of asset managers who likely manage ERISA-covered assets. These are managers over which DOL has enforcement authority, regardless of whether they rely on the QPAM exemption.’”
To read the article, click here.
