Eric Dyson, Executive Director of 90 North Consulting and one of the retirement industry’s more active ERISA expert witnesses, joins the 401(k) Specialist Podcast for a practical conversation on how plan sponsors and advisors can reduce fiduciary risk—and be better prepared if the Department of Labor comes calling.

Drawing on his experience testifying in more than a dozen ERISA cases, Dyson shares the most common mistakes he sees in litigation and investigations, why a DOL audit may be a bigger risk than a lawsuit for most plans, and what courts actually expect from fiduciaries. He tackles pressing questions around paying advisors and TPAs with plan assets, properly documenting QDIA selections to secure safe harbor protection, conducting RFPs and benchmarking at “reasonable intervals,” and crafting committee meeting minutes that protect rather than expose.

Dyson also provides clear, actionable steps sponsors can take before their next committee meeting to strengthen governance, document prudence, and stay off the litigation radar, and reduce fiduciary risk.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This podcast episode is part of our new “Deep Dive” special content package for Q1 2026 titled, “How Not to Get Sued.” You can find additional coverage in the links below, and more focused content will be available in the coming days.

SEE ALSO:

• How Not to Get Sued in 2026: Part 1
• How Not to Get Sued 2026: Part 2

As retirement planning strives to become more personalized, plan sponsors are under increasing pressure to offer solutions that meet participants where they are—not just by age or account balance, but by considering their full financial picture. That’s where workplace managed accounts can really make a difference.

Lorianne Pannozzo, Senior Vice President, Personalized Planning & Advice at Fidelity Investments and leader of the firm’s workplace managed accounts program, joins us to explain the increasing demand for managed accounts, and also to dig into new Fidelity research on what participants value most about them and what that means for retirement plan advisors and plan sponsors.

To check out an executive summary of the new research discussed in the podcast, click here: Unlocking the Value of Workplace Managed Accounts, or check out the entire paper at this link: More than an investment portfolio: Participant insights on the value and impact they receive from workplace managed accounts.

In the first new 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast episode of 2026, Editor-in-Chief Brian Anderson sits down with Kelby Meyers, founder and CEO of Nestimate, to explore the evolving landscape of in-plan retirement income and the Nestimate Retirement Income Summit.

Meyers discusses the upcoming second annual Nestimate Retirement Income Summit, shares insights on new initiatives at Nestimate—including its recently launched TDF-IQ analytics tool—and weighs in on what the Vanguard-TIAA target-date CIT with a built-in annuity could signal for the future of default investments. The conversation also examines how advisors and plan sponsors can better evaluate lifetime income options, manage fiduciary risk, and prepare for key developments shaping the retirement income market in 2026 and beyond.

Key Insights

1. Retirement Income Summit Offers Critical Education for Advisors
The second annual Estimate Retirement Income Summit aims to help plan advisors, sponsors, and home office professionals better understand and evaluate in-plan lifetime income solutions. With speakers like Matthew Eichman, Brendan McCarthy, and Spencer Look, the event emphasizes fiduciary clarity and objective analysis of evolving income strategies.

2. Vanguard-TIAA Collaboration Marks a Market Shift
The launch of a target date collective investment trust (CIT) by Vanguard and TIAA is seen as a turning point in the retirement income landscape. Vanguard’s rare move after 22 years signals growing industry momentum toward embedding annuities in target date funds to ensure retirement income security.

3. Technology and Recordkeeper Integration Drive Adoption
Tools like Estimate’s TDF-IQ offer fiduciaries an outcome-based framework for evaluating annuity-infused target date funds. Meanwhile, broader recordkeeper availability and support for annuity options could help solve portability challenges, accelerating adoption of lifetime income solutions in 2026.

SEE ALSO:

• Nestimate Introduces TDF Analyzer