Over the course of managing PE funds, a sponsor will likely find itself flying close to the proverbial flame of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) on more than one occasion. The risk, of course, is that the manager will get too close, subjecting it to myriad restrictions and requirements that can be quite onerous as compared to the ordinary course of managing a fund. In addition, potential liability from ERISA can also be quite staggering for unsuspecting PE sponsors (e.g., liability for unfunded pension obligations of portfolio companies). Those and other matters were addressed in a recent program presented by Strafford CLE Webinars featuring Sarah E. Downie, partner at Weil, and Carol I. Buckmann, partner at Cohen & Buckmann. This first article in a two-part series examines fiduciary duties arising under ERISA, potential liability for being deemed a controlled group and the status of litigation on that topic. The second article will furnish tips for avoiding prohibited transactions under ERISA and will list exemptions PE funds can use to avoid being deemed to have plan assets. See our five-part series “Happily Ever After? – Investment Funds That Live With ERISA, for Better and for Worse”: Part One (Sep. 4, 2014); Part Two (Sep. 11, 2014); Part Three (Sep. 18, 2014); Part Four (Sep. 25, 2014); and Part Five (Oct. 2, 2014).