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Fiduciary Governance
A federal appellate court has backed the dismissal of an excessive fee suit, rejecting the notion that offering actively managed funds—even those with disappointing performance—by itself doesn’t support allegations of a fiduciary breach.
Interestingly enough, it’s the first such appellate court...
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A federal judge has ruled that the comparisons put forth as proof of a fiduciary breach were not “meaningful.”
The suit was filed late last year by plaintiff-participants Malika Riley and Takeeya S. Reliford, by and through their attorneys—Carey & Danis, Edelson Lechtzin LLP, and, Capozzi...
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A key House Republican has released a discussion draft of financial data privacy legislation that could impact how retirement plan providers and administrators collect and share consumers’ personal information.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who serves as the top Republican on the House Financial...
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Based on updates to the Department of Labor’s Spring 2022 regulatory agenda, it appears that stakeholders will have to wait a little longer for the agency’s revisions to the definition of fiduciary, as well as final guidance on ESG-based factors and additional Form 5500 changes.
Fiduciary Rewrite...
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Eleanor Shellstrop has operated her fledgling business, The Good Place, for about seven years now. She established a 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan somewhere around Year 2 at the recommendation of her CPA. The CPA set up the plan for her with a bundled service provider. Whatever the CPA put on the...
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A federal judge has dismissed an excessive fee suit involving a $7.8 billion 401(k) plan, accepting the argument that the participant-plaintiff wasn’t even invested in the funds in question.
Mind you, as we’ve noted previously, the legal standard to survive a motion by defendants to dismiss a suit...
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A federal judge has questioned the wording in a $7 million excessive fee settlement agreement.
The suit—filed way back on Valentine’s Day, 2017—involved allegations by a participant in its own plan (and funds), one David G. Feinberg, on behalf of the T. Rowe Price U.S. Retirement Program and all “...
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Retirement plans have garnered heightened scrutiny. And that, suggests a recent blog entry, highlights the importance of fulfilling fiduciary duties and not committing a fiduciary breach.
The IRS and DOL have increased the number of plans they audit, note Justin M. Pisellini, President, and Joel...
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A recent blog entry provides some insight about what plan committees are looking for and how they evaluate service providers.
Plan sponsors have “tremendous responsibility” as stewards of DC plan assets, writes Mark Olsen, Managing Director at PlanPILOT in their blog. Not only are they meeting...
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Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series. The first installment appeared here.
In my last column, I argued that when ERISA diversification requirements are met, the only remaining prudence issue is price and that, regarding an asset (e.g., stock in a company) that is traded in a...
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How much injury do you need to suffer in order to bring an excessive fee suit?
That issue arose in one of a half-dozen cases that had been frozen in place last fall pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, decided this past January.
The case at hand was...
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The law firm of Schlichter Bogard & Denton has a new target in an excessive fee suit—the plan’s investment advisor.
More specifically, plaintiffs Michelle Mills, Coy Sarell, Chad Westover, Brent Aleshire, Barbara Kershner, Paula Schaub, and Jennifer Silva—who just two months ago filed suit[1]...
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In the wake of the SEC announcing a $6 billion securities fraud deal against Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC (AGI U.S.), the firm off-loaded most of its U.S. investment management business as part of the terms of the deal.
The SEC announced May 17 that it had charged AGI U.S. and three former...
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A consulting firm’s data breach has triggered a second class action lawsuit by an affected participant on behalf of a class of some 2,500,000 individuals.
The suit, brought by plaintiff Greg Torrano, claims that 2,537,261 individuals signed up for benefits plans through their employers—only to...
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In less than a year, the law firm of Capozzi Adler has wrested a settlement from a multiple employer plan accused of breaching its fiduciary duties.
The plan in question—more specifically the plan fiduciaries—targeted are those of Nextep, Inc., a professional employer organization (PEO), as well...
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Springfield, Missouri-based O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. is the latest to draw the attention of the plaintiffs’ bar—or more precisely its $1.1 billion plan and 53,000 participants.
These plaintiffs—represented by Capozzi Adler PC (and FortmanSpann LLC) say that the defendants’ “mismanagement of the...
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The Department of Labor’s March warning about cryptocurrency, along with Fidelity’s decision to move forward with a new “digital assets” capability for 401(k) plans, has set off a firestorm in Washington.
One of the latest developments comes from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) who has introduced...
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You might think the plaintiffs’ bar would have exhausted the number of $1 billion 401(k) plans to sue—but then you’d be wrong.
The latest is healthcare and bioscience company Grifols Shared Services NA—and the fiduciaries of the $1,035,952,055 (as of 2020), 10,550 participant plan who—according to...
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Providing information and notice to plan participants is not a suggestion—it’s a requirement. A recent blog entry provides some reminders as to why it matters and what notices need to be sent.
The Why
Sending required notices is a service to plan participants, since they provide information that...
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Despite recent cautions (warnings?) from the Labor Department, Fidelity has unveiled a new “digital assets” capability for 401(k) plans.
According to an April 26 press release, with this new proprietary offering, the Digital Assets Account, “you can provide your employees access to invest in...
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