Overview

• The Executive Order tasks the DOL, SEC and Treasury with re-examining ERISA fiduciary duties and securities rules to enable 401(k) plans to offer private equity, real estate, crypto, commodities, infrastructure and lifetime-income strategies.
• On August 12 the Labor Department withdrew its Supplemental Private Equity Statement from 2021 that had cautioned fiduciaries against including alternatives in defined-contribution menus.
• Major asset managers and recordkeepers are already designing liquid or capped-fee wrappers—such as interval funds, collective investment trusts and target-date funds with alternative allocations—to meet plan architecture requirements.
• Many plan sponsors and fiduciaries are holding off on launching alternative options until formal notice-and-comment regulations and clear safe harbors address valuation opacity, illiquidity, fee structures and litigation exposure.
• The SEC has been instructed to review accredited investor and qualified purchaser definitions, with any retail-access changes likely hinging on coordinated rulemaking expected in 2026.