Pete Swisher is a recognized expert on retirement plans and retirement plan governance. Mr. Swisher has extensive experience with fiduciary practices related to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans, including the ERISA Section 3(16) plan administrator, trustee, investment manager, and named fiduciary roles. He also focuses on group programs such as multiple employer plans (MEPs), pooled employer plans (PEPs), association retirement plans (ARPs), group trusts, and similar bundled service arrangements.
Mr. Swisher has testified before or provided technical feedback to the Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Senate Finance Committee. He served as a subject matter expert for the American Retirement Association (ARA) with respect to the DOL’s 2016 “Conflict of Interest Rule—Retirement Investment Advice,” also known as the Fiduciary Rule, and the related package of prohibited transaction exemptions.
Mr. Swisher consults on a spectrum of issues arising in defined contribution plans, such as recordkeeping, administration, and investing, as well as industry issues such as product development and distribution strategies and methods. He has been retained as an expert witness in ERISA matters and testified in deposition.
A noted authority on retirement plans and their service providers, Mr. Swisher is the author of 401(k) Fiduciary Governance: An Advisor’s Guide, published by the ARA (third edition published 2012). He has published numerous articles in specialist publications, such as the Journal of Pension Benefits, the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, and 401(k) Specialist Magazine. Mr. Swisher speaks regularly at professional conferences on investment topics, the U.S. retirement system, and the fiduciary landscape.
A founding member of the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), a subsidiary of the ARA, Mr. Swisher is also founding chair of NAPA’s Government Affairs Committee and one of the primary drafters of its first code of professional conduct.
As managing partner of Group Plan Systems (GPS), Mr. Swisher serves as an independent fiduciary and pooled plan provider. At Waypoint Fiduciary, which is a part-owner of GPS, Mr. Swisher consults to organizations on ERISA-governed retirement plans.
Previously, he was a senior executive at Pentegra, which provides retirement services, fiduciary outsourcing, and MEPs. Mr. Swisher is a former captain in the United States Marine Corps.