Preston Rutledge, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is stepping down from his post, with his last day scheduled for May 31, the Department of Labor said Friday.
EBSA is responsible for 401k-plan defined contribution regulation, reporting, oversight and enforcement.
“As Assistant Secretary for EBSA, Preston Rutledge brought greater security to employees’ retirement and healthcare plans, and helped small businesses extend healthcare and retirement benefits to their workers,” Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said in a statement. “His past two-and-a-half years at the Labor Department are a fitting capstone on an exceptional 25 years in government service. We will miss his counsel and wish him all the best.”
Rutledge, who replaced high-profile fiduciary advocate Phyllis Borzi in 2017 and whose tenure was marked by President Trump’s Executive Order on Strengthening Retirement Security in America, made expanding multiple employer plans (MEP) and a review of plan disclosures priorities in the EO’s wake.
“Our mission is to protect retirement, health and workplace benefits for Americans,” he said at the 2019 NAPA 401(k) Summit, where he was the keynote speaker. “We have 800 employees nationwide, but it’s a large universe for a small agency, and we must figure out how to leverage our resources.”
The issue of missing plan participants was also an agency focus.
“The purpose of a [defined contribution] is to make sure accrued benefits are paid,” Rutledge noted. “There’s so much focus on the accumulation of benefits, but what’s the point if they’re not paid.”
Reg BI and fiduciary rule
The reintroduction of the DOL’s fiduciary rule, known officially as the Conflict of Interest Rule, in December of 2019, was overshadowed somewhat by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which required broker-dealer registered representatives to put clients’ interests ahead of their own.
“I think the SEC rules is a welcome development,” he diplomatically stated at the Summit. “Our goal is to align, build up and harmonize with their agenda.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
