Employers balk at adding crypto and private equity to 401(k)s over fiduciary lawsuit risk

500+ ERISA lawsuits filed since 2016 and over $1B in settlements — and the DOL's proposed "safe harbor" uses a non-exhaustive six-factor test that attorneys are already pointing out could hand plaintiffs *more* specific grounds to litigate on, not fewer. Plan sponsors will sit on their hands for years waiting to see if this framework survives a single court challenge before putting crypto or PE anywhere near retirement money. Meanwhile the $14T 401(k) pool stays walled off by the same fiduciary standard that keeps expense ratios at 5bps instead of the 150-200bps PE shops and crypto custodians would love to extract from captive retirement capital.

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• [PDF] Crypto and Private Equity Won't Make Your 401(k) Great Again (law.illinois.edu)

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