Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act (H.R. 2988)

• •Requires retirement plan fiduciaries to base investment decisions solely on pecuniary (financial) factors, prohibiting the sacrifice of returns for non-pecuniary goals.
• •Allows fiduciaries to use non-pecuniary factors only if they cannot distinguish between investment alternatives based on financial factors alone, provided they document the decision.
• •Prohibits the inclusion of investments with non-pecuniary objectives as default investment options in retirement plans.
• •Mandates that the selection, monitoring, and retention of plan service providers be conducted without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
• •Clarifies that the fiduciary duty to manage plan assets includes the management of shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.
• •States that fiduciaries are not required to vote every proxy or exercise every shareholder right.
• •Defines 'pecuniary factor' as a factor expected to have a material effect on the risk or return of an investment.
• •Sets an effective date for the fiduciary investment amendments 12 months after the date of enactment.

This bill would change the legal standards for how retirement plan managers select investments and vote on shareholder issues, potentially impacting the investment strategies and administrative requirements for employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.