[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5339 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 184
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5339
[Report No. 118-225]
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to specify
requirements concerning the consideration of pecuniary and non-
pecuniary factors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 5, 2023
Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
September 26, 2023
Additional sponsor: Mrs. Houchin
September 26, 2023
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
September 5, 2023]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to specify
requirements concerning the consideration of pecuniary and non-
pecuniary factors, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Roll back ESG To Increase Retirement
Earnings Act'' or the ``RETIRE Act''.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974 AMENDMENT.
(a) In General.--Section 404(a) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(3) Interest based on pecuniary factors.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph (1), a
fiduciary shall be considered to act solely in the
interest of the participants and beneficiaries of the
plan with respect to an investment or investment course
of action only if the fiduciary's action with respect
to such investment or investment course of action is
based only on pecuniary factors (except as provided in
subparagraph (B)). The fiduciary may not subordinate
the interests of the participants and beneficiaries in
their retirement income or financial benefits under the
plan to other objectives and may not sacrifice
investment return or take on additional investment risk
to promote non-pecuniary benefits or goals. The weight
given to any pecuniary factor by a fiduciary shall
reflect a prudent assessment of the impact of such
factor on risk and return.
``(B) Use of non-pecuniary factors for investment
alternatives.--Notwithstanding paragraph (A), if a
fiduciary is unable to distinguish between or among
investment alternatives or investment courses of action
on the basis of pecuniary factors alone, the fiduciary
may use non-pecuniary factors as the deciding factor if
the fiduciary documents--
``(i) why pecuniary factors were not
sufficient to select a plan investment or
investment course of action;
``(ii) how the selected investment compares
to the alternative investments with regard to
the composition of the portfolio with regard to
diversification, the liquidity and current
return of the portfolio relative to the
anticipated cash flow requirements of the plan,
and the projected return of the portfolio
relative to the funding objectives of the plan;
and
``(iii) how the selected non-pecuniary
factor or factors are consistent with the
interests of the participants and beneficiaries
in their retirement income or financial
benefits under the plan.
``(C) Investment alternatives for participant-
directed individual account plans.--In selecting or
retaining investment options for a pension plan
described in subsection (c)(1)(A), a fiduciary is not
prohibited from considering, selecting, or retaining an
investment option on the basis that such investment
option promotes, seeks, or supports one or more non-
pecuniary benefits or goals, if--
``(i) the fiduciary satisfies the
requirements of paragraph (1) and subparagraphs
(A) and (B) of this paragraph in selecting or
retaining any such investment option; and
``(ii) such investment option is not added
or retained as, or included as a component of,
a default investment under subsection (c)(5)
(or any other default investment alternative)
if its investment objectives or goals or its
principal investment strategies include,
consider, or indicate the use of one or more
non-pecuniary factors.
``(D) Definitions.--For the purposes of this
paragraph:
``(i) The term `pecuniary factor' means a
factor that a fiduciary prudently determines is
expected to have a material effect on the risk
or return of an investment based on appropriate
investment horizons consistent with the plan's
investment objectives and the funding policy
established pursuant to section 402(b)(1).
``(ii) The term `investment course of
action' means any series or program of
investments or actions related to a fiduciary's
performance of the fiduciary's investment
duties, and includes the selection of an
investment fund as a plan investment, or in the
case of an individual account plan, a
designated investment alternative under the
plan.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to actions taken by a fiduciary on or after the date that is 12
months after the date of enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 184
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5339
[Report No. 118-225]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to specify
requirements concerning the consideration of pecuniary and non-
pecuniary factors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 26, 2023
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed