I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9198 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to limit fiduciary consideration of non- 
pecuniary factors in investment decision-making. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 18, 2022 
Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina (for himself, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, 
Mr. SCHWEIKERT, and Mr. SMUCKER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in 
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
limit fiduciary consideration of non-pecuniary factors in 
investment decision-making. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITIES RELATING TO 
CERTAIN NON-PECUNIARY OBJECTIVES. 
Section 404(a) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1104(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) INTEREST BASED ON NON-PECUNIARY FAC-
TORS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of paragraph 
(1), a fiduciary of a plan shall be considered to act 
solely in the interest of the participants and bene-
ficiaries of the plan with respect to a plan invest-
ment or investment course of action only if the fidu-
ciary’s action with respect to such investment is 
based only on pecuniary factors. The fiduciary may 
not subordinate the interests of the participants and 
beneficiaries in their retirement income or financial 
benefits under the plan to other objectives and may 
not sacrifice investment return or take on additional 
investment risk to promote non-pecuniary benefits or 
goals. The weight given to any pecuniary factor by 
a fiduciary should appropriately reflect a prudent as-
sessment of the impact of such factor on risk-return. 
‘‘(B) INVESTMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR PARTIC-
IPANT-DIRECTED INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT PLANS.—In 
selecting investment options for a pension plan de-
scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A), a fiduciary is not 
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prohibited from considering or including an invest-
ment option on the basis that such investment op-
tion promotes non-pecuniary benefits or goals, pro-
vided that the fiduciary— 
‘‘(i) satisfies the requirements of para-
graph (1) and subparagraph (A) in considering 
or including any such investment option; and 
‘‘(ii) does not consider or include such in-
vestment option as a default investment (as de-
fined in the regulations issued by the Secretary 
under subsection (c)(5)(A)), or a component 
thereof. 
‘‘(C) PECUNIARY FACTOR DEFINED.—For the 
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘pecuniary fac-
tor’ means a factor that a fiduciary prudently deter-
mines is expected to have a material effect on the 
risk and return of an investment based on appro-
priate investment horizons consistent with the plan’s 
investment objectives and the funding policy estab-
lished pursuant to section 402(b)(1).’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT RETIREMENT PLANS CON-
TINUE TO OFFER INVESTMENTS BASED SOLE-
LY ON PECUNIARY FACTORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(39) DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN INVEST-
MENT OPTION REQUIREMENTS.—In the case of a 
trust forming part of a defined contribution plan 
which includes investment options based on non-pe-
cuniary factors (within the meaning of section 
404(a)(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974), such trust shall not constitute a 
qualified trust unless the plan includes investment 
options not based on any such factors.’’. 
(b) 403(b) PLANS.—Section 403(b)(7) of such Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) 
INVESTMENT
OPTION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to 
an amount unless under the custodial account 
meets investment option requirements similar to 
the requirements of section 401(a)(39).’’. 
(c) 457(b) PLANS.—Section 457(e) of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
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‘‘(19) INVESTMENT OPTION REQUIREMENTS.— 
In the case of an employer described in subsection 
(e)(1)(A), a plan shall not be treated as meeting the 
requirements of this section unless such plan meets 
investment option requirements similar to the re-
quirements of section 401(a)(39).’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to plan years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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