Defined terms for the annuity market and lifetime income landscape.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is the 1974 federal law that sets the rules for private-sector retirement and welfare benefit plans in the United States, establishing fiduciary duties, participant rights, and disclosure and enforcement requirements.
An ERISA fiduciary is any person or entity that exercises discretionary authority over a covered employee benefit plan's management, its assets, or the administration of the plan, and who is therefore subject to the standards set by Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
A named fiduciary is the fiduciary explicitly designated in the plan document (or identified through a procedure set out in the plan document) as having authority to control and manage the operation and administration of an ERISA-covered plan.
The plan administrator is the person or entity identified in the plan document as responsible for the operational administration of an ERISA-covered plan, or, if none is identified, the plan sponsor by default, and is an ERISA fiduciary with respect to the administrative functions the role entails.
The plan sponsor is the employer, employee organization, or committee that establishes or maintains an ERISA-covered employee benefit plan, and that ordinarily holds the authority to amend or terminate the plan.
