Having an IPS Doesn’t Necessarily Increase Plan Sponsor Liability A properly drafted investment policy statement can offer guidelines and protection for plan sponsors—if it is followed. Reported by Retirement plan sponsors aren’t required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to have an investment policy statement (IPS), but it is considered a prudent practice. However, Bruce Ashton, a partner in the Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group, says he’s heard some plan sponsors say they don’t want an IPS because it will increase their liability. “I don’t think that’s true,” he says. “The issue is what’s in the IPS and whether plan fiduciaries are following it. For example, if the IPS has a policy in it that is not a prudent process and it gets followed, that could increase liability significantly. Likewise, if it prescribes an array of prudent processes and fiduciaries don’t follow them, it can increase liability.”