The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Retirement Plans
September 22, 2026
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9 items · ~3 min read
Top of the Brief
Congress Passes Bipartisan ESOP Valuation Legislation“Congress has passed the Retire Through Ownership Act (S. 2403), bipartisan legislation intended to provide greater clarity regarding the valuation of closely held stock in employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) transactions. The Act is the latest in a long line of bipartisan measures intended to encourage the formation and expansion of employee ownership. If enacted, the legislation would amend ERISA’s definition of “adequate consideration” as it applies to closely-held companies to provide that an ESOP fiduciary may rely in good faith on a valuation prepared by an independent valuation expert or business appraiser who has relied on the principles and methodologies of IRS Revenue Ruling 59-6”
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (3) · Retirement Plans (2) · General Benefits (4)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
3 items“This Technical Update temporarily waives the requirement to report an attrition event under § 4043.23(a)(2) of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (“PBGC”) regulation on Reportable Events and Certain Other Notification Requirements (29 CFR part 4043) (the “reportable events regulation”) if the deadline for reporting the attrition event is on or after the date of this Technical Update. ... Temporarily waiving this reporting requirement would reduce compliance burden while, in PBGC’s view, preserving PBGC’s ability to receive timely notice of workforce reductions through the single-cause event reporting requirement.” MORE >>
Source: PBGC
“Three congressional leaders called on the Department of Justice and FBI, Thursday, to conduct a criminal investigation, following reports earlier last week alleging that nearly 12,000 potentially fraudulent public comments were submitted in support of the Department of Labor’s proposed rule on a fiduciary safe harbor for including alternative investments in 401(k) plans. House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel ” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
“The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) has announced a new reporting waiver, effective immediately. Technical Update 26-1 waives reporting for any attrition event with a reporting deadline on or after September 18. This means reporting will generally not be required for attrition events that occurred during 2025 and later plan years.” MORE >>
Source: Mercer
Retirement Plans
2 items“Invesco survey finds 58% view the higher-fee, higher-return-potential trade-off positively, while 65% are interested in accessing private markets through a target date fund The vast majority of defined contribution plan participants (93%) acknowledge that private market investments typically carry higher fees, but also provide the potential for higher returns, according to new findings released today from Invesco’s Summer 2026 Defined Contribution (DC) Participant Pulse Survey.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“Research finds modest gains from some private asset allocations while highlighting liquidity, valuation and governance challenges for plan sponsors.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
General Benefits
4 items“Congress has passed the Retire Through Ownership Act (S. 2403), bipartisan legislation intended to provide greater clarity regarding the valuation of closely held stock in employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) transactions. The Act is the latest in a long line of bipartisan measures intended to encourage the formation and expansion of employee ownership. If enacted, the legislation would amend ERISA’s definition of “adequate consideration” as it applies to closely-held companies to provide that an ESOP fiduciary may rely in good faith on a valuation prepared by an independent valuation expert or business appraiser who has relied on the principles and methodologies of IRS Revenue Ruling 59-6” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
“Market concentration remains high, with a small number of companies accounting for a disproportionate share of index weight and returns. That narrow leadership can make capitalization-weighted benchmarks difficult to beat in the short run, particularly for managers who maintain valuation discipline and broader diversification. But that same dynamic also highlights why active management remains important. Passive exposure is often described as “owning the market,” but today it increasingly means owning a concentrated expression of consensus views. As dispersion rises and market leadership eventually broadens, skilled active managers should have more opportunity to distinguish between companie” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“AI is not. That distinction—quietly but consequentially—is beginning to reshape what fiduciary responsibility looks like in practice, and whether plan sponsors and advisors can close the persistent gap between the ethical standards they claim and the decisions they actually make. The retirement plan industry has invested heavily over the past two decades in fiduciary education. Plan sponsors know more about prudent process, fee benchmarking, and investment policy compliance than at any point in the history of ERISA. And yet fiduciary breaches—driven by conflicts of interest, undocumented decision-making, and selection processes shaped by familiarity rather than evidence—remain stubbornly com” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“Experts from Groom Law Group and CAPTRUST answer questions concerning retirement plan administration and regulations.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR