Overview
Ted Becker co-authored a new publication for the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), A Buyer’s Guide to Insurance for Fiduciaries of ESOPs and Other Plan Benefits.
Over the past decade, many class actions and other lawsuits have been brought against benefit plan fiduciaries, and many of these suits have involved ESOPs. The cost to defend and resolve these lawsuits can be substantial, and the fiduciaries can be held personally liable under ERISA. Traditionally, the company sponsoring the plan agreed to pay the fiduciaries’ defense costs and indemnify the fiduciaries against a claim. However, such agreements have come under attack. An alternative is to use insurance. A Buyer’s Guide to Insurance for Fiduciaries of ESOPs and Other Plan Benefits addresses the complex issues relating to insurance for ESOP and other benefit plan fiduciaries, explaining what fiduciary liability insurance is supposed to accomplish and how seemingly minor differences in policy language can result in widely varying coverages.
