It’s often said that ERISA’s prudent man rule is the highest duty known to law. But is that enough?Don’t get me wrong – any law that holds human beings to the standards of an expert in any field is a... Read More
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Fiduciary Governance
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 12/8/2016
Another plan sponsor has been sued for continuing to permit investment in company stock.Exxon Mobil Corp. is the latest plan sponsor to be sued for knowing that its stock was overvalued, and not only... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/7/2016
Still searching for the best way to prepare for the DOL’s new fiduciary duty rule? Industry insider Don Trone has a suggestion: Consider a behavioral governance framework.“You can do better by... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 12/6/2016
A 401(k) plan fiduciary has been charged with stealing more than $750,000 from the plan – and apparently using that plan as something of a personal piggybank.Wallace D. Gregerson, president and sole... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/29/2016
A new lawsuit charges plan fiduciaries with engaging in a “practice of self-dealing and imprudent investing of Plan assets by funneling billions of dollars” into a series of target date funds.The... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/29/2016
A second federal court has weighed in on the legal challenges presented to the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule.In a 63-page ruling, Judge Daniel Crabtree of the U.S. District Court for the District... Read More
BY Fred Barstein | 11/28/2016
Consider this scenario: After some due diligence, an advisor determines that a universe of 250 funds are appropriate for almost all clients. That advisor then suggests a lineup of 12-15 investments... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/28/2016
Though acknowledging that the fiduciary rule is likely to cause “significant changes” in how the industry operates, along with “substantial compliance costs,” and “economic losses,” the federal judge... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/23/2016
Yet another suit has been filed by 401(k) plan participants alleging that a plan kept an imprudent and relatively high cost mutual fund in the plan in violation of the plan’s diversification... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/21/2016
A federal judge has dismissed a class action that sought to hold plan fiduciaries liable for keeping a mutual fund in the plan in violation of the plan’s diversification requirements.The plaintiffs... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 11/15/2016
Edward Jones has found itself the target of a second 401(k) participant suit which alleges that the brokerage firm’s plan fiduciaries breached their duties in a number of ways.The suit, filed in the... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 11/7/2016
Plan fiduciaries who acted “in blatant disregard of the express terms of the plan document and of their fiduciary duties” came out on the losing end of a lawsuit. An investigation by the Labor... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 11/2/2016
ERISA attorney Fred Reish takes a look at a “new” concern that’s not so new: reasonable compensation for advice to IRAs.In his most recent blog post, Reish explains that there seems to be a common... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/28/2016
The 24-page document covers a lot of ground in the form of 34 questions, and while much of it seems to confirm what had been understood (or assumed), the first wave of FAQs certainly provides some... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/25/2016
It’s not unusual for a company whose stock has dropped to find itself embroiled in litigation – but three separate lawsuits by 401(k) plan participants? Wells Fargo has now been named in a third... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/17/2016
A Wells Fargo plan participant has filed a class action lawsuit against her former employer – the second such stock-drop lawsuit in a week, though some of the defendants – and arguments – are... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/13/2016
These days if you sponsor a 401(k) plan that has company stock in it, and it suffers a sharp decline in value, you can pretty much count on getting sued. So it should come as no surprise that Wells... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 10/5/2016
The plan wasn’t very large, but a company founder is alleged to have violated ERISA’s duty to diversify by putting most of the plan’s assets in a single stock.In McClain v. Poppell, N.D. Fla., No. 3:... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/28/2016
Participant-plaintiffs have come out losers – again – in a suit alleging that plan fiduciaries violated their duties by keeping employer securities in the plan and failing to disclose inside... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/23/2016
If you’ve been wondering if satisfying a “best interest” standard required satisfying a single best criteria, wonder no more.In a recent blog post, ERISA attorney Fred Reish explains that, because of... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 9/21/2016
Due largely to the success of the Schlichter Bogard & Denton law firm representing class action plaintiffs in 401(k) lawsuits, notes industry insider Steff Chalk, a well-founded fear of being... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/15/2016
A recordkeeper has been sued for allegedly charging excessive fees as part of its advice arrangement with Financial Engines.Plaintiff Lisa Patrico, a participant in the Nestle 401(k) Savings Plan,... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/13/2016
Another major employer has been charged in an excessive fee lawsuit that not only contests the fees paid by the plan, but administrative fees paid by the plan to the plan sponsor as well.The suit... Read More
BY Nevin E. Adams, JD | 9/8/2016
A federal court has once again tossed a case involving a precipitous drop in a 401(k) employer stock because the plaintiffs failed to prove that disclosure would have cleared the “more harm than good... Read More
BY NAPA Net Staff | 9/6/2016
While advisors, broker-dealers, and RIAs continue to make preparations for the new fiduciary regulation, what might those changes mean for plan committees?In a recent ERISA Law Newsletter by the... Read More
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