DOL Discusses Upcoming Fee Disclosure Guidance

In a recent interview, Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) highlights the DOL's upcoming guidance on fee disclosure. She is quoted in the article as stating:

"We’re currently working on a guide for service providers that will encourage a more uniform manner for disclosing information to plan sponsors, and our proposal is currently under review at OMB. The goal of the fee disclosure rule was to establish a system to ensure greater transparency with respect to fees and expenses for plan sponsors, as well as participants and beneficiaries. We wanted something helpful that people could really use to make decisions about their plans, and of course we still want that. For the first time, both plan sponsors and participants will be able to see how much the investment products they are offered actually cost. That is a big deal. But there is always room for improvement. At the same time, however, we know that behavioral change will take time. But it will come. We continue to evaluate how effective our regulation has been at promoting better decision-making, and that’s something we’ll continue to keep an eye on. Increasingly we see that employees have more responsibility for making investment decisions – and the more that is the case, the more important it is that they have the necessary resources to evaluate their options."

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