IPS Can Still Add Value for Plans Despite Goldman Sachs Dismissal
Investment policy statements (IPSs) are commonplace among retirement plans — with around 83% providing one. And that number tends to be even higher among bigger plans. Financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs is one of the larger employers that doesn’t utilize an IPS. In fact, this was the subject of a recently dismissed lawsuit by a former Goldman employee, whose attorney alleged that the company violated ERISA by, among other things, failing to adopt an IPS.
The federal judge in the Goldman Sachs case reaffirmed that “the Department of Labor has never taken the position that an IPS is required to satisfy a fiduciary’s duties.” Moreover, the absence of an IPS was not, in and of itself, sufficient cause for the case to proceed. Nonetheless, that doesn’t undercut the potential advantages of establishing an IPS.
