what is a qualified professional asset manager qpam 
a qualified professional asset manager qpam is a registered investment adviser ria that assists various institutions in making financial investments the focus of a qpam is on retirement accounts such as pension plans qpams are beneficial to investment funds because if an investment fund or retirement plan is managed by a qpam they can then transact in areas otherwise prohibited by the employee retirement income security act erisa understanding a qualified professional asset managerthe criteria for qualifying as a qpam are defined by erisa regulated institutions such as banks and insurance companies may qualify as a qpam under amendments that came into effect in august 2005 a qpam is also defined as a registered investment adviser with client assets under management aum of at least 85 million and shareholder s equity of 1 million or more 1investment funds can typically benefit on a regulatory basis through the qpam exemption the qpam exemption is widely used by parties who conduct transactions with accounts holding retirement plan funds essentially the qpam exemption allows an investment fund that is managed by a qpam to engage in a wide range of transactions that would otherwise be prohibited by erisa erisa prohibits certain transactions when an erisa governed plan or fund transacts business with an entity that may be conflicted in regards to that plan or fund when a qpam is in the equation the restriction is lifted with practically all parties such as plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries however such transactions cannot be entered into with the qpam itself or with those parties that may have the power to influence the qpam one big role for qpams is representing pension plans when they want to engage in private placements the qpams role is to vet the private placement for the pension fund qualified professional asset managers may also assist investment plans with investing in real estate or other alternative investments qualified professional asset managers and prohibited transactionsa qualified professional asset manager may make a transaction that would normally be prohibited under erisa section 406 a 2 such transactions may include sales exchanges leases loans extensions of credit and the provision of services between a party of interest and a pension plan using a qpam can remove the risk of trustees being held personally liable for errors as long as they utilize the qpam prudently however using a qpam is not a shield for breach of fiduciary duty qualified professional asset manager qualificationsthe qualifications for a qualified professional asset manager are codified in prohibited transaction class exemption 84 14 issued by the department of labor they are 3