Insights
Mike Hadley Featured in Pensions & Investments Webinar Discussing the Department of Labor’s Response to Private Market Investments in Defined Contribution Plans
- Published Date: April 2, 2026
On April 2, 2026, Pensions & Investments hosted a webinar titled “Navigating the new landscape: DOL’s response to private market investments in defined contribution plans,”, where Davis & Harman Partner, Mike Hadley, spoke on the agency’s investment selection proposal.
Hadley provided a preliminary summary of and fielded questions regarding DOL’s March 30th investment proposal entitled “Fiduciary Duties In Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives.” The regulation implements the President’s Executive Order entitled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.”
According to Hadley, “at a high level…the proposal…is trying to accomplish three things at once” and the DOL “did a good job” in doing so. First, the proposal addresses how a fiduciary should select an investment menu, focusing of asset neutrality. Second, it affirms that the fiduciary will have “maximum discretion” to select menu investments. And third, it entitles a fiduciary to a safe harbor and “significant deference” in court, so long as they carefully consider six factors when selecting an investment menu. The six factors that DOL wants a fiduciary to consider are performance, fees, liquidity, valuation, performance benchmarks, and complexity.
A link to the full webinar can be found here.
