Cite as: 517 U. S. 882 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
done.4 The definition of fiduciary makes no distinction between persons exercising authority over welfare benefit plans and those exercising authority over pension plans. It speaks simply of a "fiduciary with respect to a plan," 29 U. S. C. § 1002(21)(A), and of "management" and "administration" of "such plan," ibid. And ERISA defines a "plan" as being either a welfare or pension plan, or both. See § 1002(3). Likewise, the fiduciary duty provisions of ERISA are phrased in general terms and apply with equal force to welfare and pension plans. See, e. g., § 1104(a) (specifying duties of a "fiduciary . . . with respect to a plan"). See also Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U. S., at 91 (ERISA "sets various uniform standards, including rules concerning . . . fiduciary responsibility, for both pension and welfare plans"). Given ERISA's definition of fiduciary and the applicability of the duties that attend that status, we think that the rules regarding fiduciary capacity—including the settlor-fiduciary distinction—should apply to pension and welfare plans alike.
Lockheed acted not as a fiduciary but as a settlor when it amended the terms of the Plan to include the retirement programs. Thus, § 406(a)'s requirement of fiduciary status is not met. While other portions of ERISA govern plan amendments, see, e. g., 29 U. S. C. § 1054(g) (amendment generally may not decrease accrued benefits); § 1085b (if adoption of an amendment results in underfunding of a defined benefit plan, the sponsor must post security for the amount of the deficiency), the act of amending a pension plan does not trigger ERISA's fiduciary provisions.
4 See, e. g., Siskind v. Sperry Retirement Program, Unisys, 47 F. 3d 498,
505 (CA2 1995); Averhart v. US WEST Management Pension Plan, 46 F. 3d 1480, 1488 (CA10 1994); Fletcher v. Kroger Co., 942 F. 2d 1137, 1139- 1140 (CA7 1991); Hozier v. Midwest Fasteners, Inc., 908 F. 2d 1155, 1160- 1162 (CA3 1990) (listing cases); Sutton v. Weirton Steel Div. of Nat. Steel Corp., 724 F. 2d 406, 411 (CA4 1983), cert. denied, 467 U. S. 1205 (1984).
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