118 S1563 IS: Maximize Americans' Retirement Security Act U.S. Senate 2023-05-11 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II118th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 1563IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESMay 11, 2023Mr. Braun (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Budd, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and PensionsA BILLTo amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to clarify the fiduciary duty of plan administrators to select and maintain investments based solely on pecuniary factors, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Maximize Americans' Retirement Security Act.

2.

Fiduciary duty regarding the consideration of certain factors in investment decisions for employee benefit plans

(a)

In general

Subsection (a) of section 404 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:(3)(A)The duties under paragraph (1) shall include the duty to select and maintain investments based, except as provided in subparagraph (B), solely on pecuniary factors.(B)Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), when choosing between or among investment alternatives that a fiduciary is unable to distinguish on the basis of pecuniary factors alone, the fiduciary may use non-pecuniary factors as the deciding factor in the selection or maintenance of an investment if the fiduciary furnishes to participants documentation on the following:(i)Why pecuniary factors were not sufficient to select or maintain the investment.(ii)How the investment compares to the alternative investments with regard to—(I)the composition of the investments of the plan with regard to diversification;(II)the liquidity and current return of the investments of the plan relative to the anticipated cash flow requirements of the plan; and(III)the projected return of the investments of the plan relative to the funding objectives of the plan. (iii)How the chosen non-pecuniary factor is consistent with the interests of participants and beneficiaries in their retirement income or financial benefits under the plan. (C)For purposes of this paragraph, the term pecuniary factor means a factor that a fiduciary prudently determines is expected to have a material effect on the risk or return of an investment based on appropriate investment horizons consistent with the plan's investment objectives and the plan's funding policy established pursuant to section 402(b)(1)..(b)

Effective date

The amendment made by this section shall apply to investments made after the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.