Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
  • Print
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Regulation
October 27, 2021 12:03 PM

DOL: Cybersecurity of retirement accounts to remain a top priority

Margarida Correia
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More

    The cybersecurity of retirement accounts will continue to be a top priority for the Department of Labor, said Ali Khawar, acting head of the agency's Employee Benefits Security Administration, at Pensions & Investments' Defined Contribution West conference in San Diego.

    "The concern that I have is that for all the work that we've done to encourage people to save, we are one very significant cybersecurity attack from having trust in the system completely dissipate," Mr. Khawar told plan sponsors, service providers and other industry stakeholders Tuesday during his keynote address.

    While Mr. Khawar lauded the industry for its work in getting workers to put $13 trillion into defined contribution plans, saying it's "a figure to be very proud of," he nevertheless wanted to make sure the industry didn't lose any ground on the gains it had made.

    The Labor Department is looking to preserve participants' confidence in the security of their accounts and prevent situations where they say, "What's the point? It's not safe. I don't want to put my money in a 401(k)," Mr. Khawar said.

    "It is that concern that really motivates a lot of our work here," he added.

    The Labor Department issued guidance in April that provided cybersecurity tips for plan fiduciaries, service providers and plan participants, and is planning to offer additional guidance to plan sponsors about the vulnerabilities their systems can introduce into the retirement "ecosystem," Mr. Khawar said.

    Mr. Khawar told the audience that the agency has ramped up its enforcement activity in cybersecurity and that the increased scrutiny is "going to continue over the next few years."

    Mr. Khawar also spent a good amount of time discussing the agency's focus on ESG investing and what one attendee described as the "pingpong game" between the pro-ESG Democratic and anti-ESG Republican administrations.

    The central question has to do with the issue of financial materiality rather than the political leanings of different administrations, Mr. Khawar said.

    "We try to make it clear that increasingly the market recognizes that ESG can be a material financial factor, and when it does, it's appropriate for the fiduciaries to take it into account," he said of the agency's recent rule proposal that fiduciaries should consider ESG factors in the assessment of investment risks and returns.

    However, Mr. Khawar said the Labor Department also "makes it clear that ESG isn't by definition material, and it isn't by definition something that you're required to always make sure that you're taking into account."

    "The thrust of our proposal is that the fiduciary is the person that's in the driver seat, and they are the ones that should be making that decision about whether or not it is material," he said.

    In addition, Mr. Khawar shared the agency's views about the use of cryptocurrency in retirement plans, saying the exposure to cryptocurrency through a passive index fund that includes, for example, Tesla, which accepts bitcoin as a form of payment, is very different from a plan lineup that includes bitcoin as a direct investment.

    "I think our concern is much more in that category, where fiduciaries are essentially recommending to participants that this is an appropriate thing for them to put their tax-favored money into," he said.

    Related Articles
    EBSA ready for reorganization, though Congress has questions
    DOL working with SEC on fiduciary rule, labor secretary says
    Recommended for You
    Gary_Gensler_Closeup_i.jpg
    SEC updates agenda, plans to finalize nearly 30 rules
    sec-logo-main_i.jpg
    SEC's use of in-house judges expected to be shot down by Supreme Court
    The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on March 15, 2021
    Bank chiefs on Capitol Hill tee off on proposal to raise capital requirements
    CITs Poised to Shine Across the DC Stage
    Sponsored Content: CITs Poised to Shine Across the DC Stage
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    What a Fed pivot and ‘higher for longer’ mean for emerging markets
    A Guide to Home Equity Investments: The Untapped Real Estate Asset Class
    How to Modernize a School District Retirement Plan
    Q4 2023 Credit Outlook: Price Is What You Pay, Value Is What You Get
    There's More Than One Way to Be a Climate Investor
    Exploring the Commercial Application of Artificial Intelligence
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    October 23, 2023 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
    • Print