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Adds an ERISA duty to manage shareholder rights (including proxy voting) prudently for participants’ economic benefit, allows a narrow safe-harbor voting policy, and requires recordkeeping and monitoring.
Official title: To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to clarify the application of prudence and exclusive purpose duties to the exercise of shareholder rights.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Erin Houchin · Last progress March 10, 2025
Requires ERISA plan fiduciaries who manage plan assets held as corporate shares to treat shareholder rights (including proxy voting) as part of plan asset management and to exercise those rights prudently and solely for participants’ economic benefit. It sets recordkeeping, cost-consideration, and adviser-monitoring requirements, allows a safe-harbor proxy policy that narrows when votes must be cast, and bars subordinating financial interests to non-pecuniary goals; it takes effect for shareholder actions on or after January 1, 2026.