Opinion ID: 858494
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The M&I Retirement Plan

Text: M&I Bank sponsored a retirement savings fund for its employees called the M&I Retirement Program. The Plan No. 11-2660 5 was subject to ERISA’s rules governing employee retirement savings plans, under which the Plan was considered an Employee Individual Account Plan or EIAP because employees selected the funds for investing their savings from among options chosen by the Plan fiduciaries. 29 U.S.C. § 1107(d)(3).1 Under the Plan, employees could choose how to allocate their investments among the twenty-two funds in one-percent increments. Employees could shift their new contributions and existing investments to different investment options at any time. This arrangement was laid out in the Plan’s gov- erning document. The Plan was implemented and managed in accordance with the governing document by the Plan’s fiduciaries. The named fiduciary of the plan was M&I Bank itself, and the Plan was overseen by an In- vestment Committee that consisted of several M&I directors, all of whom are defendants here. The Plan’s governing document permitted the Investment Committee to select the funds that would be available in the plan, but it specifically required that one particular investment be one of the Plan’s investment funds — the M&I Stock Fund. Plan § 16.02(b). The M&I Stock Fund consisted entirely of M&I’s common stock, apart from a small amount of cash or money market funds to meet immediate cash needs. This type of investment fund — one investing primarily in the employer’s 1 The Plan is a “defined contribution” plan under ERISA because the employees bear the risks of loss and benefit from gains on their invested contributions. 29 U.S.C. § 1002(34). 6 No. 11-2660 stock — is considered an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or ESOP under ERISA. 29 U.S.C. § 1107(d)(6). The Plan’s governing document required that the M&I Stock Fund be offered in the Plan and that it invest in M&I stock at all times, regardless of any “reversals of fortune.” Regarding the prospect of “reversals of fortune,” the Plan used strong language. It recognized the likelihood of significant declines in stock price from time to time, but took a long-term view and directed the Plan fiduciaries to allow for alignment of the interests of employees and the corporation: Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, as the settlor of the Plan and the Trust, hereby declares that its intent and purpose in creating the M&I Fund is to align the interests of Plan Participants with Marshall & Ilsley Corporation. Marshall & Ilsley Corporation believes that its success as an entity and the performance of the M&I Fund will both be enhanced and facilitated in the long run by such alignment. At the same time, Marshall & Ilsley Corporation recognizes that the performance of a business fluctuates and the valuation of stock fluctuates. As a result, it is possible that M&I’s business and the value of the M&I Fund could decline significantly (even to the point where Marshall & Ilsley Corporation’s ongoing viability comes into question). Nevertheless, Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, as the settlor of the Plan and Trust, intends and declares that neither the Committee nor any other Plan fiduciary shall have any authority or ability to cause the M&I Fund to be invested in anything but M&I No. 11-2660 7 stock, except for liquidity needs as discussed in paragraph (b) above. Marshall & Ilsley Corporation believes that, should it suffer reversals of fortune, the alignment of the interests of Plan Participants and Marshall & Ilsley Corporation may be the very thing which will enable Marshall & Ilsley Corporation to again prosper. In sum, Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, as settlor of the Plan and Trust, hereby declares that it is its intent and command that there can be no change in circumstances or event (no matter how dire) which would allow the Committee or any other Plan fiduciary to shift investment of the M&I Fund into investments other than M&I stock (except for liquidity needs as discussed in paragraph (b) above). Plan § 16.02(f) (emphases added); see also § 16.02(b). Thus, the Plan’s governing document required the fiduciaries to maintain the M&I Stock Fund under all circumstances, “no matter how dire.”