The Second Circuit recently held that in order to state a claim for a prohibited transaction pursuant to ERISA section 406(a)(1)(C), it is not enough to allege that a fiduciary caused the plan to compensate a service provider for its services. Instead, “the complaint must plausibly allege that the services were unnecessary or involved unreasonable compensation.” Cunningham v. Cornell Univ., 2023 WL 7504142 (2d Cir. Nov. 14, 2023). Separately, the Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendants in connection with the plaintiffs’ fiduciary breach claims that were premised on allegations of excessive recordkeeping fees, underperforming investment funds, and the defendants’ failure to transition to lower-cost share classes of certain mutual funds.
Fees
“Divane Intervention”: ERISA 401(k) Plan Investment Claims Dead On Arrival
By Russell Hirschhorn & Kyle Hansen on
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 decision in Divane v. Northwestern University, 953 F.3d 980 (7th Cir. 2020). (Our blog on the Divane decision is available here.) In the…
Third Circuit Resuscitates Claims Against University 403(b) Plan Fiduciaries
Over the past several years, the ERISA plaintiffs’ bar has targeted university-sponsored 403(b) plans, arguing that the plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties and engaged in prohibited transactions in connection with offering certain investment options and the administrative fees associated with such plans. Among other things, they have argued that the plan fiduciaries offered too…
The Debate Continues Over The Fiduciary Status of 401(k) Plan Service Providers
By Robert Rachal on
In Golden Star Inc. v. MassMutual Life Ins. Co., 2014 WL 2117511 (D. Mass. May 20, 2014), a district court addressed two issues that have become hotly contested in 401(k) plan fee litigation: (1) whether and when a plan provider’s possession or exercise of discretion over fees confers fiduciary status; and (2) whether, to be a fiduciary with respect to plan investments, a plan provider must not only possess, but actually exercise discretion over the investment options offered by the plan.
MassMutual offered plaintiff Golden Star (the plan sponsor and named fiduciary) recordkeeping and other services for its 401(K) plan. MassMutual defined the menu of investment options offered, and Golden Star selected the options to be offered in its plan from that menu. The mechanism for these investments was separate accounts owned by MassMutual as an insurer; MassMutual would pool the investments of several 401(K) plans investments into these separate accounts and then invest the accounts into mutual funds, or other selected investment options. The group annuity contract between Golden Star and MassMutual allowed MassMutual to assess management fees on the separate accounts of up to 1% of the market value.