The Employee Benefits Security Administration has named Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson as Acting Assistant Secretary, replacing Preston Rutledge, who announced his departure in April and stepped down on May 31.
As Acting Assistant Secretary, Wilson will serve as agency head for the EBSA at the Department of Labor. EBSA is responsible for 401k-plan defined contribution regulation, reporting, oversight and enforcement.
Wilson has served at EBSA since her initial appointment in November 2017. Since that time, she has served as Acting Assistant Secretary (now and previously from November 2017 to January 2018). She also served as EBSA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy (November 2017 to May 2019), and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (May 2019 to May 2020).
Before her appointment, Wilson served as counsel to plan sponsors and fiduciaries for over 15 years. Prior to her graduation from law school, Wilson worked for seven years at a national accounting firm where she audited employee benefit plans and provided employee benefit plan compliance advice.
Rutledge resigns
Previous Assistant Secretary Rutledge replaced high-profile fiduciary advocate Phyllis Borzi in 2017, who unsuccessfully lobbied for the passage of the Department’s Conflict of Interest Rule. His 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.”
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.
