Originally, this was going to be a cyber episode, but based on a recent conversation with plaintiff’s attorney Jerry Schlichter and some subsequent litigation, thought it might be good to expand our horizons to include employee data. My guest today, Jenny Eller, Principal and co-head of the Fiduciary Practice at Group Law Group brings her experience and perspective to the conversation. We first dive into the data side of the conversation with some general thoughts on the business practices around data, whether it is a plan asset, and why it could be a hot topic for the foreseeable future. Then we make a soft pivot to cyber risks, share thoughts on where employers might be worrying too much and where maybe they are not worrying enough. Jenny also makes some interesting points on how ERISA doesn’t even contemplate some of the losses we are experiencing in plans today and what plan sponsors can to to protect their plan, participants and themselves. Good stuff! 

Before we get started, I am so excited to share that with some help, I finally got the website in much better working order. Check it out when you have a chance. For more information about this episode go to www.401kfridays.com/cyber2020, to see prior episodes click on “Podcast Episodes” on the top and if for any reason you are not subscribed you can take care of that while you are there as well. 

Guest Bio

In her practice, Jennifer Eller advises financial institutions on the design and delivery of products and services to the retirement plan marketplace, and advises large corporate and public plan sponsors on all aspects of ERISA fiduciary compliance.

Jenny writes and speaks frequently on fiduciary issues, appearing at conferences held by the Fiduciary Risk Management Association, the Practising Law Institute, and the ALI CLE among others.  

Jenny is co-head of Groom’s Fiduciary Practice Group. In her role as practice group co-head, Jenny is responsible for ensuring that the strategic direction and new initiatives of the Fiduciary Group position Groom to serve the needs of its financial, corporate, and public plan clients. 

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Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 175 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!