Is a self-directed account really "independent control"?

A Plan Fiduciary allows for self-directed accounts. In many respects, the participant or beneficiary is "on their own." However, the Plan Fiduciary has an intitial and continuing obligation to make certain that disclosure exists.

In the preamble to the Regulations, the Department writes:

First, the Department has concluded that the obligation of an ERISA section 404(c) plan fiduciary to disclose information should not be limited to information concerning those investment alternatives intended to satisfy the "broad range" requirement of the regulation, but rather should extend to information concerning the plan itself and each investment alternative made available under the plan. The Department can find no reasonable basis for distinguishing between information concerning investment alternatives which are intended to satisfy the "broad range" requirement and information concerning any other investment alternative made available under a plan in terms of value to participants and beneficiaries in evaluating their investment options and making informed investment decisions. Second, the Department has concluded that fiduciaries of an ERISA section 404(c) plan should have an affirmative obligation to ensure that participants and beneficiaries are provided or can obtain basic information concerning the investment alternatives made available under the plan. The Department is persuaded that merely referring participants and beneficiaries to a source for investment information and requiring them to obtain the information is insufficient to ensure that participants and beneficiaries are in a position to make informed investment decisions. While, as discussed below, there is nothing in the regulation which precludes a plan fiduciary from designating another person or persons to actually furnish the required information, the regulation contemplates that the identified plan fiduciary will remain responsible for ensuring disclosure.