Administering a retirement plan and managing its assets involve specific responsibilities that can be difficult for most employers to perform. They first need to understand the rules and regulations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). This is complicated enough, and oftentimes it will require a fiduciary service provider to help the employer understand everything involved. ERISA sets standards of conduct for those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets (i.e., fiduciaries). A plan must have at least one named plan fiduciary. For some plans, the plan fiduciary may be an administrative committee or a company’s board of directors. The key to determining whether an individual or an entity is a fiduciary is whether it is exercising discretion or control over the plan.