The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:32:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png DOL Guidance Creates New ERISA Risks for Proxy Advisory Arrangements – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 DOL Guidance Creates New ERISA Risks for Proxy Advisory Arrangements https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/04/28/dol-guidance-creates-new-erisa-risks-for-proxy-advisory-arrangements/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dol-guidance-creates-new-erisa-risks-for-proxy-advisory-arrangements https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/04/28/dol-guidance-creates-new-erisa-risks-for-proxy-advisory-arrangements/#respond Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:30:11 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=180662?d=20260427160053EDT Posted by Joshua A. Lichtenstein, Sharon Remmer, and Jonathan M. Reinstein, Ropes & Gray LLP, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Editor's Note:

Joshua A. Lichtenstein and Sharon Remmer are Partners and Jonathan M. Reinstein is Counsel at Ropes & Gray LLP. This post is based on a Ropes & Gray memorandum by Mr. Lichtenstein, Ms. Remmer, Mr. Reinstein, Amy D. Roy, Robert A. Skinner, and Alexa Voskerichian.

Executive Summary

On April 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Technical Release 2026-01 (TR 2026-01 or the Release), addressing the application of ERISA’s fiduciary requirements and preemption provisions to proxy advisory services. TR 2026-01 does not amend the DOL’s proxy voting regulation (at 29 C.F.R. § 2550.404a-1); however, it recontextualizes the relationships among ERISA plans, asset managers of plan asset funds, and proxy advisory firms in ways that warrant immediate review of existing arrangements.

In light of this guidance, asset managers and ERISA plan fiduciaries should consider the following actions:

    1. audit existing proxy advisor arrangements against each prong of the DOL’s five-part investment advice test as interpreted under TR 2026-01 to determine whether the arrangement may create an inadvertent fiduciary relationship — and whether restructuring to avoid fiduciary status is appropriate;
    2. assess potential exposure under ERISA § 405 (as a co-fiduciary) where the proxy advisor may be deemed to be a fiduciary; and
    3. monitor for future rulemakings that may amend the regulations to take a harder line on the use of non-pecuniary factors and the tiebreaker test.

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