Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1. The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

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**2025**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2025-04A 09/23/2025 29 CFR 2550.404c-5 404(c)	Michael P. Kreps Groom Law Group, Chartered 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 20006-5811	The Advisory Opinion concludes that the requestor’s Lifetime Income Strategy program meets the requirements to be a qualified default investment alternative under ERISA section 404(c)(5) and the Department’s implementing regulation at 29 CFR 2550.404c-5(e).
2025-03A 09/09/2025 3(2)	Kent A. Mason Davis & Harmon LLP 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20004	Concluding that the deferred incentive compensation program offered by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC qualifies as an exempt "bonus program" under 29 C.F.R. § 2510.3-2(c) and is not an employee pension benefit plan subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
2025-02A 07/22/2025 3(1) 3(4)	Audrey A. Millemann Weintraub Tobin 400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor Sacramento, California 95814	Whether a long-term disability program sponsored by the California Association of Professional Firefighters is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of ERISA 3(1) sponsored by an "employees' beneficiary association" within the meaning of ERISA 3(4).
2025-01A 07/21/2025 404 406	Dominic J. DeMatties, Esq. Thompson Hine LLP 1919 M Street NW, Suite 700 Washington D.C. 20036-3537	This advisory opinion concerns the application of ERISA’s fiduciary responsibility provisions to a Citigroup program that involves a commitment by Citigroup and its affiliates to pay all or some portion of the investment management fees for diverse managers retained by Citi-sponsored employee benefit plans. This Advisory Opinion rescinds Advisory Opinion 2023-01A.

**2024**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2024-02A 12/20/2024 3(5)	W. James Hamilton Bose McKinney & Evans LLP 111 Monument Circle, Suite 2700 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204	Whether the ICI Benefits Consortium Health Benefit Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA that is maintained by a "group or association of employers" within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA.
2024-01A 02/01/2024 412	Paul A. Howard, II, Esq. Howard Law & Policy Group PLLC 718 Seventh Street, NW Washington, DC 20001	This advisory opinion concerns whether Lloyd's of London (Lloyd's) underwriters may rely on authorizations to sell surplus lines insurance to satisfy the conditions of the exemption in the Department of Labor's regulations at 29 CFR 2580.412-25 and 412-26 under which Lloyd's underwriters may serve as the surety for purposes of the bonding requirement in section 412 of ERISA.

**2023**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2023-01A 09/29/2023 404 406	Dominic J. DeMatties, Esq. Thompson Hine LLP 1919 M Street NW, Suite 700 Washington D.C. 20036-3537	This advisory opinion concerns the application of ERISA’s fiduciary responsibility provisions to a Citigroup program that involves a commitment by Citigroup and its affiliates to pay all or some portion of the investment management fees for diverse managers retained by Citi-sponsored employee benefit plans. This Advisory Opinion is rescinded by Advisory Opinion 2025-01A.

**2020**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2020-01A 01/24/2020 3(1)	Alexander T. Renfro, JD, LLM The Law Office of Alexander Renfro 3200 West End Avenue, Suite 500 Nashville, TN 37204	Whether LP Management's limited partnership programs are employee welfare benefit plans within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA, and, if so, whether the arrangements constitute single-employer group health plans sponsored by the limited partnerships as an "employer." This advisory opinion has been set aside by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Data Marketing Partnership v. Scalia, Case No. 19-800, 2020 WL 5759966 (N.D. Tex. Sep. 28, 2020). The government has appealed the decision and the case is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Case No. 20-11179.

**2019**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2019-01A 07/08/2019 3(40) 3(5)	Alden J. Bianchi Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. One Financial Center Boston, MA 02111	Whether the Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation Cooperative Group Health Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA that is maintained by a "group or association of employers" within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA and whether it is a MEWA that is fully insured within the meaning of sections 3(40) and 514(b)(6)(A) of ERISA.

**2018**
AO/ Date/ Reference	Recipient	Description of Request
2018-01A 11/05/2018 3(21)(A) 4975	J. Spencer Williams Founder, President and CEO Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC 3545 Whitehall Park Drive, Suite 400 Charlotte, NC 28273	This advisory opinion concerns the status of certain parties as fiduciaries within the meaning of section 3(21)(A) of ERISA and section 4975(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a result of actions undertaken as part of a Retirement Clearinghouse Auto Portability Program designed to help employees consolidate certain small accounts in plans and IRAs when they change jobs.