Opinion ID: 6931475
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Actuarial Valuation Report (Item 6)

Text: The district court reasoned that an administrator is not required to furnish actuarial valuation reports upon request because these reports are of a different class than the specific items listed in § 104(b)(4); they are merely “backup documentation” of material contained in the annual reports. J.A. at 243. Plaintiffs counter that the actuarial valuation report is an instrument under which the plan is operated; it is, after all, a formal report required under ERISA §§ 103(a)(4) and (d), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1023(a)(4) and (d), and it is a primary source of information concerning a plan that is not available elsewhere. Defendants cite to three Department of Labor (“DOL”) Advisory Opinion letters, in which DOL instructs that various documents — trustee meeting minutes, treasurer’s reports not part of a plan’s annual report, and reports to state governments — do not necessarily have to be disclosed under § 1024(b)(4). In these letters, the DOL stresses that if these minutes do in fact constitute an instrument under which the plan is established or operated, they have to be furnished. The letters contrast minutes of a meeting in which trustees review the performance of an investment manager, which would not have to be disclosed, and minutes of a meeting in which the trustees establish a claim procedure, which would have to be disclosed. See DOL Advisory Opinion Letters 87-010A, 82-021A, and 82-033A. However, because actuarial valuation reports are not the same as the documents that are mentioned in the DOL letters, we find the letters to be inapposite. Surprisingly, whether actuarial reports must be disclosed upon request under § 1024(b)(4) appears to be an issue of first impression at the appellate level. 9 We are persuaded by Plaintiffs’ reasoning. Because an actuarial valuation report is required for every third plan year, § 1023(d), these reports are indispensable to the operation of the plan. As such, they are “instruments under which the plan is ... operated,” which must be disclosed upon request under the plain language of § 1024(b)(4). Furthermore, as Plaintiffs point out, the purpose of ERISA’s disclosure requirements is to ensure that “the individual participant knows exactly where he stands with respect to the plan.” Firestone, 489 U.S. at 118, 109 S.Ct. at 958 (quoting H.R.Rep. No. 93-533, p. 11 (1973)). This suggests that, all other things being equal, courts should favor disclosure where it would help participants understand their rights.