Another BlackRock Target Date Fund case, that was alleging that plan sponsors “chased” low fees and disregarded poor performance has been thrown out.
These suits have also been filed on behalf of participants in the 401(k) plans of Citigroup Inc., Cisco, Genworth, Stanley Black & Decker Inc., Microsoft, Marsh & McLennan Cos., Advance Publications, and Wintrust Financial Corp.
The $1.5 billion Advance 401(k) Plan class action case is the latest loser in court. The lawsuit alleged that the BlackRock TDFs were significantly worse performing than many of the mutual fund alternatives offered by TDF providers.
Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York threw out the case, claiming the plaintiff failed to support allegations in the case. Advance argued that the plaintiffs failed to offer any direct allegations of an imprudent fiduciary process. Torres also noted that the plaintiffs failed to contest Advance’s claim that the plaintiffs did not allege that the returns of the comparator TDFs or composite index are reasonable proxies for underperformance.
