concurring and dissenting.
I join all portions of the majority’s well-reasoned opinion other than Part II, subsection (A)(2). I write separately because I do not agree with the conclusion that Frankford functioned as a fiduciary with respect to the Srein Plan’s interest in the Madsen policy.1 Therefore, I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority’s decision.
In establishing a retirement plan for R.J. Srein Corp., Ronald Srein, a college graduate, successful businessman, and sophisticated investor, negotiated four separate agreements with Frankford. According to the documents, Srein had the authority to control and manage the operation and administration of the Srein Plan. Indeed, he was identified in the documents as both the “plan administrator” and “plan fiduciary.” Frankford, on the other hand, was authorized only upon written direction from Srein to pay benefits and expenses from the Plan’s funds; make investments on behalf of the Plan; and allocate contributions under the Plan to the participants. Frankford was identified as the “plan trustee.”
I agree with the District Court that under the four Srein Plan documents “the role of Frankford was of a limited nature as Frankford was to exercise no investment discretion, and Srein was solely responsible for selecting the investments for the plans.” (D. Ct. Op. at pp. 4) I also agree with the District Court’s observation that Frankford’s intended role was that of directed trustee, rather than fiduciary. Id. at 10-12.
Notwithstanding the nature of the contractual duties set forth in the Plan documents, the majority, citing Board of Trs. of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen Local 6 of New Jersey Welfare Fund v. Wettlin Assocs. Inc., 237 F.3d 270 (3d Cir.2001), notes that an entity may be found to be a fiduciary when it is entrusted with duties to “control, manage, hold, safeguard, and account for a fund’s assets and income.” I note, however, that where the duties entrusted to an entity are merely ministerial, fiduciary status may be inappropriate. See Beddall v. State Street Bank and Trust Co., 137 F.3d 12, 20 (1st Cir.1998) (“Without more, mechanical administrative responsibilities (such as retaining the assets and keeping a record of their value) are insufficient to ground a claim of fiduciary status.”); Arizona State Carpenters Pension Trust Fund v. Citibank, 125 F.3d 715, 722 (9th Cir.1997) (“Having to make a decision in the exercise of a ministerial duty does not rise to the level of discretion required to be an ERISA fiduciary.”).
Here, as the District Court found, the evidence presented leads to the conclusion that Frankford was entrusted with duties that were merely ministerial. The Plan *226documents stated that Frankford had no duty to make any inquiry or investigation with respect to the instructions from Srein and had no discretionary authority to determine investments for the assets of the fund. It is clear that Frankford was entrusted with less authority than the entity in Wettlin in determining whether to disburse benefits. C.f. Wettlin, 237 F.3d at 275 (“[T]he contract provides that Wettlin is to ‘[r]eeeive request for benefits from employees and take appropriate action thereon,’ ” without clarifying what action should be taken.). Accordingly, on the spectrum of duties a bank might be entrusted to perform, I agree with the District Court that Frankford’s duties were closer to being a depository than a fiduciary.
Nonetheless, I am mindful that a trustee’s actual exercise of “any authority or control respecting management or disposition of [a Plan’s] assets” could confer fiduciary status under the definition set forth in 29 U.S.C. § 1002(21)(A)(i).2 The Supreme Court has observed that ERISA “defines ‘fiduciary’ not in terms of formal trusteeship, but in junctional terms of control and authority over the plan, thus expanding the universe of persons subject to fiduciary duties.... ” Mertens v. Hewitt Assocs., 508 U.S. 248, 262, 113 S.Ct. 2063, 124 L.Ed.2d 161 (1993) (emphasis supplied) (citations omitted); see also Acosta v. Pacific Enterprises, 950 F.2d 611, 618 (9th Cir.1991) (holding that it is a “person’s actions, not the official designation of his role, [which] determine whether he enjoys fiduciary status.”)
The majority finds that Frankford exercised “undirected control” (if not actual authority) over the Srein Plan assets when it (1) deposited proceeds from the Madsen policy in the Richards Plan; and (2) failed to develop an effective record-keeping system for viatical investments. Based on these findings the majority concludes that Frankford functioned as a fiduciary.
My disagreement on this point stems from my slightly different interpretation of the second clause of subsection (i) of 29 U.S.C. § 1002(21)(A). This clause confers fiduciary status on those who exercise “any authority or control respecting management or disposition of [plan] assets.” I am aware that this clause, unlike the first, does not require an exercise of discretion. See Wettlin, 237 F.3d at 272-73. However, I think that the meaning of the determinative words used requires a greater degree of responsibility than was exercised by Frankford.3 In order to conclude that *227Frankford acted as a fiduciary under the second clause of subsection (i), there must be sufficient evidence that Frankford used its power to direct or command the handling or placement of either the Madsen policy participation agreement or money in the Srein Plan account.
The majority finds sufficient the evidence that Frankford deposited proceeds from the Madsen policy in the Richards Plan account. I disagree that this evidence is sufficient to confer fiduciary status. The Srein Plan owned a 100% interest in the Madsen Policy and the Richards Plan owned a 28% interest in the same policy. After Mr. Madsen died, Frankford received proceeds from Findco on the Madsen policy. Frankford deposited those proceeds in the Richards Plan account. It did so because Findco designated them as payable to that Plan. If Frank-ford had deposited proceeds designated for the Srein Plan into the Richards Plan account, that would be an example of control over Srein Plan assets. But that is not what happened here. Srein even testified that Frankford never directed money out of the Srein Plan’s account without his consent.
The majority finds that Frankford’s action in depositing the Madsen policy proceeds in the Richards Plan account is similar to the bank’s action in Smith v. Provident Bank, 170 F.3d 609 (6th Cir.1999), which was sufficient to establish fiduciary status. I disagree. In Smith, the bank corrected its own accounting mistake by removing shares from one account and moving them to another account on its own initiative, thus demonstrating control over assets. 170 F.3d at 612. Here, however, Frankford did not remove the Madsen Policy from the Srein Plan and move it into the Richards Plan. Frankford simply invested the Srein and Richards Plans’ funds as directed by those Plans’ administrators and later deposited the Madsen policy proceeds into the Richards Plan account upon receiving them from Findco. It may well be that Frankford’s failure to notice that both the Srein and Richards Plans owned an interest in the Madsen policy was negligent, but it does not demonstrate that Frank-ford exercised any control over Srein Plan assets.
The majority also finds that Frankford exercised “undirected control” on the basis that it failed to develop an effective record-keeping system for viatical investments. Again, I disagree. The majority’s holding indicates that Frankford’s failure to act has somehow risen to the level of an exercise of authority or control. The bank’s failure to act, at most, cpuld be characterized as an omission amounting to negligence, but I fail to see how it is an exercise of authority or control. In any event, even if Frankford had established a record-keeping system for viatical investments, that action would not be an exercise of “undirected control” over the management or disposition of Srein Plan assets. See e.g. Beddall, 137 F.3d at 21 (“A financial institution cannot be deemed to have volunteered itself as a fiduciary simply because it undertakes reporting responsibilities that exceed its official mandate.”); Arizona State Carpenters Pension Trust Fund, 125 F.3d at 722 (“Preparing reports of account activities and determining whether to use a particular format to inform the Trustees of delinquencies do not
*228amount to an assumption of control or authority over the Trust Funds_”). Therefore, the failure to establish a record-keeping system is not evidence of an exercise of authority or control either.
I,therefore, dissent.
. The majority analyzed the two viatical investments made by the Srein Plan through Frankford separately. I agree with the majority's conclusion that Frankford’s handling of the Chamness policy did not create fiduciary status. I limit my comments, therefore, to the majority’s analysis of Frankford’s handling of the Madsen policy.
. The full definition of "fiduciary'' provided in ERISA is as follows:
[A] person is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent (i) he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan or exercises any authority or control respecting management or disposition of its assets, (ii) he renders investment advice for a fee ... or has any authority or responsibility to do so, or (iii) he has any discretionary authority or discretionary responsibility in the administration of such plan.
. As was set forth above, 29 U.S.C. § 1002(2 l)(A)(i) confers fiduciary status on those who exercise "any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan or exercises any authority or control respecting management or disposition of its assets.” The relevant definition of "exercise” as a verb (as it is used in the second clause of subsection (i)) is "to put into action, practice, or use ... to discharge; perform." Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 677 (2d ed.1998). The relevant definition of "authority” is "the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine, [or] ... a power or right delegated or given.” Id. at 139. The relevant definition of "control” as a noun is "the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command.” Id. at 442. "Controlling” is defined as "exercis[ing] restraint or direction over.” Id. "Manage*227ment” is defined as "the act or manner of managing; handling, direction, or control.” Id. at 1166. “Disposition” is defined as "arrangement or placing ... [or] final settlement of a matter.” Id. at 568. Finally, "assets” are defined as "items of ownership convertible into cash; total resources of a person or business, as cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, ..." Id. at 125.