October 11, 2022

Acting Assistant Secretary Ali Khawar
Office of Regulations and Interpretations
Employee Benefits Security Administration
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave.
Washington, DC 20001

Re: Application No. D–12022: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov at Docket ID number: EBSA–2022–0008

Dear Secretary Khawar:

The Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”)1 appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Department of Labor’s Proposed Amendment to PTE 84-14, the class exemption for assets managed by a Qualified Professional Asset Managers (the “QPAM Exemption”). The QPAM Exemption has worked extraordinarily well in allowing plans to access the investment markets over the past almost 40 years, facilitating retirement plans’ access to a variety of investments, and allowing plans to operate on an efficient and effective basis. The QPAM Exemption is well understood and accepted by asset managers and by counterparties in various transactions with plans, including with borrowers in the financial markets. QPAMs, plans and parties in interest have developed well accepted approaches for allocating responsibility among themselves that permit plans to access markets efficiently.

We believe these proposed changes are so extensive they would upend the current stability in the retirement plan marketplace without any benefit to plans and their participants. Further, the conditions being proposed have no precedent in any other exemption, statutory or class, including the nearly identical in scope status-based exemptions. Accordingly, we strongly believe that the proposed amendments should be withdrawn.