90
Opinion of the Court
tract with Harris, Hancock receives deposits from the Sperry Plan. Harris asserts that Hancock is managing "plan assets," and therefore bears fiduciary responsibility. Hancock maintains that its undertaking fits within the statutory exclusion for "guaranteed benefit polic[ies]." "Guaranteed benefit policy" is not a trade term originating in the insurance industry; it is a statutory invention placed in ERISA and there defined as an insurance policy or contract that "provides for benefits the amount of which is guaranteed by the insurer." 88 Stat. 875, 29 U. S. C. § 1101(b)(2)(B).
The contract in suit is of a kind known in the trade as a "deposit administration contract" or "participating group annuity." 2 Under a contract of this type, deposits to secure retiree benefits are not immediately applied to the purchase of annuities; instead, the deposits are commingled with the insurer's general corporate assets, and deposit account balances reflect the insurer's overall investment experience. During the life of the contract, however, amounts credited to the deposit account may be converted into a stream of guaranteed benefits for individual retirees.
We granted certiorari, 507 U. S. 983 (1993), to resolve a split among Courts of Appeals regarding the applicability of the guaranteed benefit policy exclusion to annuity contracts of the kind just described. The Second Circuit in the case we review held that the guaranteed benefit policy exclusion did not cover funds administered by Hancock that bear no fixed rate of return and have not yet been converted into guaranteed benefits. 970 F. 2d 1138, 1143-1144 (1992). We agree with the Second Circuit that ERISA's fiduciary obligations bind Hancock in its management of such funds, and accordingly affirm that court's judgment.
2 For descriptions of these contracts, see D. McGill & D. Grubbs, Fundamentals of Private Pensions 551-564 (6th ed. 1989) (hereinafter McGill & Grubbs); see also Goldberg & Altman, The Case for the Nonapplication of ERISA to Insurers' General Account Assets, 21 Tort & Ins. L. J. 475, 478-482 (1986) (hereinafter Goldberg & Altman).
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