Fiduciary Duties: Questions and Misconceptions
On June 3rd, Ashley Dunning and Michelle Mellon-Werch will serve as panelists during “Fiduciary Duties: Questions and Misconceptions,” a webinar hosted by the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR).
Public pension trustees come from diverse backgrounds, but they share one defining responsibility: the duty to act solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries. This exclusive benefit rule requires trustees to set aside politics, employer demands, the interests of those who appointed or elected them to the pension board and personal views. It is the obligation to “take off the hats” that trustees may wear in the rest of their professional or personal lives and “put on the hat” of a fiduciary whose loyalty runs only to the members they serve with respect to the benefits and related services the pension plan provides.
Because this duty is both central and demanding, it often generates recurring questions and persistent misunderstandings. How should trustees recognize when they are wearing the wrong “hat”? What responsibilities are most prudently delegated to staff or others and how do boards continue to comply with their fiduciary responsibilities. How do trustees stay current on the complex issues the impact their plans? And what misconceptions most often trip up even experienced board members?
To explore these issues, the panelists will walk through the questions they hear most frequently and the misconceptions they see across public retirement systems. They will discuss what fiduciary duty truly requires, how to navigate difficult board dynamics with confidence and how trustees can strengthen their understanding of loyalty, prudence and beneficiary‑focused governance.
The National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) is an independent association dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of public retirement systems in the United States and its territories to which teachers belong and to promoting the rights and benefits of all present and future members of the systems.
