Costco has reached a settlement that will see them pay $5.1 million to resolve allegations that it committed fiduciary breaches within their 401(k) plan.
A participant in the Costco 401(k) Retirement Plan filed a lawsuit against Costco by claiming the company breached their ERISA duties by authorizing the plan to pay unreasonably high fees for recordkeeping; failing to objectively and adequately review the plan’s investment portfolio with due care to ensure that each investment option was prudent in terms of cost; and maintaining certain funds in the plan despite the availability of identical or similar investment options with lower costs and/or better performance histories.
As part of the settlement, Costco “will ensure that the plan administrative service per capita recordkeeping fee deducted from plan accounts does not exceed $3.25 per plan account per quarter.”