1001 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N

SUITE

W 

500 SOUTH

C 20004 

ICHARD M. WHITING 

WASHINGTON, D

TEL 202-289-4322 

FAX 202-628-2507 

R

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND 

GENERAL COUNSEL 

 Financing America’s Economy 

January 14, 2011 

Via email to e-ORI@dol.gov

Office of Regulations and Interpretations 

Employee Benefits Security Administration 

Room N-5655 

U.S. Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20210 

Re: Target Date Disclosure - RIN 1210-AB38 

To Whom It May Concern, 

The Financial Services Roundtable (“Roundtable”)1

 submits this letter in response to a request 

for comment on the proposed regulation, Target Date Disclosure, issued by the Department of Labor 

(“DOL”) on November 30, 2010. 

The Roundtable supports efforts by regulators to ensure that consumers who invest in Target 

Date funds receive sufficient information to make informed comparisons with regard to different 

investment options. Fair disclosures are an important component in ensuring that retail investors can 

fairly evaluate and compare the many different products that now exist in the investment market. In 

determining the content of any required disclosure, the Roundtable believes that regulators should take 

care to ensure that any new requirements do not cause inadvertent harm to consumers. “More” 

disclosure does not necessarily mean “better” disclosure. Specifically, the Roundtable believes that 

there is a risk that harm may occur when regulators create disclosure requirements that are 

confusing to investors, are inconsistent with other regulatory requirements, provide information 

that is duplicative or unneeded, or that unnecessarily increase the cost of providing services to 

investors. 

We urge the DOL to coordinate its disclosure requirements with a recent Target Date Fund 

proposal issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).2

 Although the two proposals are 

 

1 The Financial Services Roundtable represents 100 of the largest integrated financial services companies providing banking, 

insurance, and investment products and services to the American consumer. Member companies participate through the Chief 

Executive Officer and other senior executives nominated by the CEO. Roundtable member companies provide fuel for 

America's economic engine, accounting directly for $85.5 trillion in managed assets, $965 billion in revenue, and 2.3 million 

jobs. 

2

 75 Fed. Reg. 35,920 (June 23, 2010). 
similar, the current DOL proposal differs in certain areas. The Roundtable believes that investor 

interests would be best served by not requiring plan sponsors to produce separate sets of disclosures as a 

result of conflicting sets of regulatory requirements. To that end, we would suggest that the DOL 

publish its final rules in conjunction with the SEC. 

In many instances the SEC Target Date proposal contains slightly more detailed requirements 

than the DOL proposal which may produce uncertainty among market participants. For example, the 

SEC proposal requires slightly more detail to be included in a disclosure graphic showing changes in 

asset allocation over time.3

 These differences may cause confusion to plan sponsors who will have to 

determine whether a document that is compliant with SEC standards also meets the DOL’s requirement. 

The final DOL rule can avoid this confusion, however, by stating that disclosures intended to meet SEC 

requirement will also meet DOL requirements. 

The Roundtable also urges the DOL tailor its requirements to ensure that investors are not 

overwhelmed by the amount of information and notices that plan sponsors are required to provide. The 

DOL estimates that the new disclosures required in the proposed rule would add two pages to the QDIA 

Notice.4

 This would double the length of QDIA Notice according to estimates published by the DOL in 

2007.5

 The Roundtable strongly believes that plan sponsors already have strong incentives to provide 

investors with disclosures that address their material concerns. At some point, enhanced disclosures 

may become confusing and therefore counterproductive to consumers. The Roundtable asks that the 

DOL undertake a comprehensive review of disclosures that plan sponsors will now be required to 

provide in order to ensure that any new requirements are not duplicative of existing regulation. The 

Roundtable also asks the DOL to verify that any new information that is required under the new 

disclosures be material to the transaction. 

 The Roundtable thanks the Department of Labor for the opportunity to make its opinions known 

regarding its Target Date Funds proposal. If it would be helpful to discuss the Roundtable’s specific 

comments or general views on this issue, please contact me at Rich@fsround.org or Brian Tate at 

Brian@fsround.org. 

Sincerely yours, 

Richard M. Whiting 

Executive Director and General Counsel 

Financial Services Roundtable 

 

3 The SEC proposal would specifically require that fund marketing materials include the fund’s asset allocation at the 

inception of the fund, on the target date, and at the landing point. The SEC proposal also provides that specific dates 

generally must be used to show the asset allocation over time (as opposed to referencing the number of years before a 

participant’s retirement date), and that intervals of no longer than five years may be used for this purpose. 4

 75 Fed. Reg. 73,992 (Nov. 30, 2010). 

5

 72 Fed. Reg. 60,468 (Oct. 24, 2007).