Employers must take action now to provide appropriate oversight
of their retirement plans, both in reaction to recent legislation
and extreme stock market volatility due to COVID-19.
This is especially true for those employers that have needed to
reduce their active workforce, including through layoffs and
furloughs.
In particular, retirement plan committees should, in many cases,
call an ad hoc meeting to review the effects that the coronavirus
pandemic may have on their qualified retirement plans, including
401(k), 403(b) and defined benefit pension plans. Plan sponsors and
retirement plan committees should meet with their investment
consultants and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
counsel to review the recent coronavirus-related legislation,
including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
(CARES Act), which President Trump signed into law on March 27,
2020, and ongoing market volatility. Retirement plan committees
must understand