how erisa expanded on the wppda
the employee retirement income security act of 1974 protects americans retirement assets by implementing rules that qualified retirement plans must follow to ensure plan fiduciaries use plan assets appropriately as outlined by erisa plans must provide participants with information about plan features and funding and regularly produce relevant information free of charge 2erisa adds to the requirements under the welfare and pension plans disclosure act by establishing standards of fiduciary duty protecting the plans from mismanagement and increasing the rights of participants and beneficiaries erisa defines a fiduciary as anyone who exercises discretionary authority or control over a plan s management or assets including anyone who provides investment advice to the plan fiduciaries who do not follow the principles of proper conduct may be held responsible for making up losses to the plan in addition erisa addresses fiduciary provisions and bans the misuse of assets through this particular set of provisions 3in addition to keeping participants informed of their legal rights erisa grants participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty to ensure participants do not lose their retirement contributions if a defined plan is terminated erisa guarantees payment of certain benefits through the pension benefit guaranty corporation a federally charted corporation 4