Fiduciary Governance

New year, new duties? A Missouri senator has introduced legislation that would modify the duties of fiduciaries serving public employee retirement systems. Sen. Jill Carter (R-Jasper and Newton) on Jan. 4 introduced the bill, SB 436. It provides that an investment fiduciary would discharge his or... READ MORE

It is a growing club that no one wants to join: the club of companies who became victims of cyberterrorism. Whether the release of credit card data from the infamous Target inside job, the gas pipeline shutdown at Colonial Pipeline, or the more recent CNA Financial ransom attack, it is often not a... READ MORE

Loaded up with a fresh set of plaintiffs, a familiar plaintiffs’ attorney is having yet another “go” at plan fiduciaries in an excessive fee suit. The law firm in question is none other than Capozzi Adler PC[1] (and Johnson Fistel LLP), which filed a similar (identical?) suit against this same... READ MORE

After over four years of hard-fought litigation, the parties in a suit involving fund menu construction have come to a partial settlement. By partial, we mean that plaintiffs Wendy Berry, Lorri Hulings, and Kathleen Sammons have come to terms with Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting, Inc. as part of... READ MORE

A participant suit targeting TIAA for its loan practices in retirement plans has come up short in identifying a potential class on whose behalf to bring suit. The suit—filed back in early 2017 (Haley v. Teachers Inv. & Annuity Assoc., S.D.N.Y., No. 1:17-cv-00855, complaint filed 2/3/17)—was... READ MORE

ESG is a broad, sweeping construct, and in its most comprehensive form touches on a wide variety of elements essential to corporate governance, sustainability, and returns. But there are skeptics, if not to the efficacy of the focus, to its impact on portfolios. While individuals come to this... READ MORE

A federal magistrate judge has recommended tossing an excessive fee suit against a $4 billion 401(k) plan. While the recommendation still requires the signoff of a district judge,[1] U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries basically recommended granting Nestle’s — the $4 billion plan in question —... READ MORE

Noting that “Plaintiffs fail to plausibly allege the Committee breached its ERISA-imposed fiduciary duty by charging unreasonable recordkeeping fees” — another excessive fee suit has been dismissed. The plaintiffs here — Keith K. Kruchten, Angel D. Muratalla and William Begani — sued on behalf of... READ MORE

Litigator Jerry Schlichter has been sued…for a breach of fiduciary duty. According to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Schlichter (and his firm) has been sued by partner Roger Denton—the third name in St. Louis law firm Schlichter, Bogard and Denton—alleging he’s been cheated out of at... READ MORE