A class action suit involving a data hack of participant data at a consulting firm has reached a $7.75 million cash settlement. The suit arose from a November 2021 cyber security “incident” involving Horizon Actuarial Services LLC[i] and data on some 100,000 individuals who were signed up for... READ MORE

“Having considered the motions, pleadings, and relevant law,” a federal court judge has backed the Labor Department in a suit brought by 26 red state Attorneys General challenging the so-called ESG rule. The coalition[i] that brought the suit in January 2023, alleged that the 2022 Rule “undermines... READ MORE

Plaintiffs have had their appeal of a district court’s dismissal of their excessive fee suit rejected by the appellate court. Appellants Cole Matney and Paul Watts[i]—participants in the Barrick Gold 401(k) plan—filed suit against Barrick Gold of North America, Inc., Barrick Gold’s Board of... READ MORE

The plaintiffs in one of the dozen or so cases involving the BlackRock Lifepath target-date funds (TDFs) have made it past the motion to dismiss stage. In this case (Trauernicht et al. v. Genworth Financial Inc. et al., case number 3:22-cv-00532, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District... READ MORE

Noting that “a fiduciary breach cannot exist where no fiduciary duty applies,” American Airlines has pushed back on a participant-plaintiff’s amended claims regarding ESG-biased investments in his 401(k) plan. In a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s amended suit, American Airlines reiterated that... READ MORE

Summer may be winding down, but there’s been a LOT going on in the retirement world. In this episode, Nevin (Adams) and Fred (Reish) run down the hot topics, and the implications behind these trends. In what has traditionally been a “quiet” news period, the retirement industry had been buzzing... READ MORE

A recent MarketWatch article poses the intriguing question: “Why does TikTok hate the 401(k) so much?” Now, as social media platforms go, I’ve pretty much avoided TikTok. Oh, I’ve swung by it from time to time just to see what the “fuss” is, but generally speaking (and even in “retirement”), I’ve... READ MORE

A federal judge has held that a participant that wasn’t invested in the funds in question lacked standing to bring suit—and that his claims about excessive recordkeeping fees weren’t specific enough. The suit—filed less than a year ago in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North... READ MORE

Well, here we are again at the end of yet another workweek …and yet, there’s no shortage of…well, just look at what happened to these guys and gals… First, some odds and ends… While there are some general tips on dealing with a bear encounter (“alert the bear to your presence, get back, stay calm... READ MORE