Federal law requires the sponsor of a plan to pay attention to how the plan works.  One important aspect of doing this is understanding and disclosing the fee structure, and being sure the fees are reasonable.

But how does the President of a manufacturing company know if the fees are reasonable?  Typically, he asks the financial advisor (i.e., the guy selling him the investments).  The 9th Circuit has now ruled that asking the financial advisor is an important step, but its not enough

In an unrelated story in Investor News, J.D. Power & Co. surveyed 4,200 full service investors and found out that 85% never heard of or don't understand the difference between fiduciary and suitability standards.  On the other hand, they want their telephone calls returned within 24 hours.

Scary.