The View from Proskauer on Developments in the World of Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & ERISA Litigation

Pamela Onufer

Special Pension investment Counsel

Pamela is a special pension investment counsel who focuses her practice on ERISA, with special emphasis on ERISA’s fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules. She has extensive experience assisting both single-employer and multiemployer benefit plan clients in reviewing and negotiating various investment-related agreements and documents, including documentation related to separate accounts, collective trust funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, fund-of-funds, custody agreements, trust agreements, portfolio transition management agreements, investment policies and guidelines and ISDAs.

Subscribe to all posts by Pamela Onufer

DOL Proposes Significant Changes to the QPAM Exemption – What You Need to Know

By Ira G. Bogner, Neal Schelberg, Steven Weinstein, Adam Scoll, Pamela Onufer and Rebecca Fishbein on August 10, 2022 Posted in Department of Labor

On July 27, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued notice of a proposed amendment (the “Proposed Amendment”) to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (which is commonly referred to as the “QPAM Exemption”) that would (as described in more detail below) significantly amend certain of the exemption’s conditions, including: increasing the equity/net worth … Continue Reading

New DOL Fiduciary Rule Package: What You Really Need to Know

By Ira G. Bogner, Seth Safra, Adam Scoll and Pamela Onufer on July 13, 2020 Posted in Department of Labor, Fiduciary

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (the “DOL”) new “fiduciary rule” package, issued on June 29, 2020, and published in the Federal Register on July 7, 2020, has three important components: The DOL has formally reinstated its “five-part test” initially set forth in its 1975 regulation for determining whether a person is a “fiduciary” by reason … Continue Reading

DOL Information Letter Outlines Fiduciary Considerations for Including Private Equity Allocations in Defined Contribution Plan Investments

By Ira G. Bogner, Seth Safra, Adam Scoll, Pamela Onufer and Kaitlin Hulbert on June 5, 2020 Posted in 401(k) Plans, Department of Labor, Fiduciary

On June 3, 2020, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published an Information Letter confirming that investment options under a defined contribution plan (e.g., a 401(k) or 403(b) plan) may include a limited allocation to private equity. Notably, the Letter does not discuss direct investment in private equity funds (for example, by adding a PE … Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Labor’s New Proposed Rules Defining Fiduciary Investment Advice

By Adam Scoll, Ahuva Warburg, Pamela Onufer and Russell Hirschhorn on April 21, 2015 Posted in Fiduciary

On April 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its highly anticipated re-proposed regulation addressing when a person providing investment advice with respect to an employee benefit plan or individual retirement account (IRA) is considered to be a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue … Continue Reading