The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on August 7, 2020 issued its post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law in Obeslo v. Great-West Capital Management, LLC et al. The ruling comes at the tail end of a...more
8/20/2020
/ Actual Damages ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Damages ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Post-Trial Order ,
Section 36(b) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standing
Key Takeaways
- Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirms that comparison of advisory fees to subadvisory fees is “inapt” under Jones v. Harris Assocs., relying on undisputed evidence of differences in services and...more
4/3/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mutual Funds ,
Reaffirmation ,
Section 36(b) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Summary Judgment
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a comprehensive post-trial ruling on September 30, 2019 in Chill v. Calamos Advisors LLC, holding that Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden to show that...more
10/10/2019
/ Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Dismissals ,
Excessive Fees ,
Expert Witness ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Mutual Funds ,
Section 36(b)
Within recent weeks, there have been three noteworthy court rulings in pending Section 36(b) cases, with one court granting a motion to dismiss and two different courts fully granting substantive motions for summary judgment....more
3/29/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arms Length Transactions ,
Dismissals ,
Excessive Fees ,
Failure To State A Claim ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Genuine Issue of Material Fact ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Mutual Funds ,
Standard of Review
The Chairman of the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), on April 19, 2017 released an updated discussion draft of the Financial CHOICE1 Act (Bill), and the Committee held...more
5/1/2017
/ Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Mutual Funds ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Private Right of Action ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Section 36(b) ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Standard of Review
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently issued its post-trial ruling in Kasilag et al. v. Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC et al. The Hartford ruling is the second post-trial Section 36(b)...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued its post-trial ruling on August 25, 2016 in Sivolella v. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company—the first Section 36(b) trial decision since 2009. The Court...more
9/20/2016
/ AXA Equitable Life ,
Burden of Proof ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Funds ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
Section 36(b)
The U.S. mutual fund industry is poised to see significant developments in the ongoing wave of Section 36(b) “excessive fee” litigation. Days apart in August, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary...more
10/7/2015
/ Appeals ,
Arms Length Transactions ,
Board Deferance ,
Board of Directors ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Mutual Funds ,
Private Right of Action ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 36(b) ,
Shareholders ,
Summary Judgment