A U.S. District Court federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin mostly sided with Nestlé USA Inc by recommending the dismissal. of a class action lawsuit alleging fiduciary negligence and self-dealing in...more
A portion of a lawsuit filed against Pentegra Retirement Services in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has been dismissed but a large part remains....more
Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. and its subsidiary United of Omaha has agreed to settle Mutual of Omaha’s 401(k) plan over allegations of self-dealing....more
A federal district court in Illinois recently dismissed “excessive fee” and “imprudent investment” claims against the plan fiduciaries of the CareerBuilder 401(k) plan fiduciaries, relying largely on the Seventh Circuit’s...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed the putative class active brought against T. Rowe Price Group by current and former employees alleging the firm breached its fiduciary duty by favoring its own financial...more
I have always been concerned about the use of proprietary funds, especially belong to mutual fund companies and their use in their own 401(k) plans because they’re ripe to be a target for a class action lawsuit. Fidelity...more
Despite the change in seasons, there appears to be no change in the pace of complex and class action ERISA litigation. Investments in defined contribution plans—both 401(k) and 403(b) plans—continue to be the leading target...more
Editor's Overview - As we have observed on other occasions, the ERISA class action plaintiffs' bar has, for several years now, honed in on 401(k) plan fiduciaries and their decisions to select and retain investment options...more
Financial institutions that sell mutual funds to the public often maintain 401(k) and other retirement plans for their own employees. In these plans, many financial institutions make their own mutual funds available to...more
Editor’s Overview - In 2016, we saw a considerable uptick in the number and variety of excessive fee lawsuits commenced against plan fiduciaries of defined contribution plans. We begin the year by taking a look at these...more
The First Circuit joined the Eighth Circuit in finding that Fidelity’s practice of earning overnight “float” interest on the cash paid out to 401(k) participants redeeming shares in mutual funds did not violate ERISA’s duty...more
The Supreme Court is poised to address whether fiduciaries' decisions—especially in using fee sharing arrangements—are subject to deference when challenged. The Eighth and Ninth Circuit courts recently decided these issues,...more