Private Equity Fund Liability: ERISA

In the final installment of Faegre Drinker’s three-part series for the Wall Street Lawyer, benefits and executive compensation partner Gregory Ossi and associate Christopher R. Williams focus their article on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and its impact on private equity fund liability.

ERISA sets minimum standards for the management and funding of private industry retirement, health and welfare plans and, accordingly, touches on the private equity industry both on the front end in terms of limited partnership investment from ERISA-regulated plans, and on the back end in terms of the benefits offered by portfolio companies to their employees. In their article “Private Equity Fund Liability: ERISA,” the authors highlight that both ends of this regulatory spectrum raise the possibility of fund liability.