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Portal Conductor, Columnist: Nevin E. Adams, JD
Nevin is the former Chief Content Officer and Head of Retirement Research for the American Retirement Association. One of the retirement industry’s most prolific writers, these days he’s “retired,” which means he writes less, but continues to keep his eye on developments in, and threats to, the nation’s private retirement system.
In addition to helping guide the agenda development for the NAPA 401(k) Summit, he’s also the “Nevin” in the Nevin & Fred podcast (along with renowned ERISA attorney Fred Reish), offering irreverent, but relevant perspectives on the critical issues confronting plan sponsors, advisors, and retirement industry professionals.
Article Index
By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/15/2023
Another of the suits alleging that plan fiduciaries “chased” low fees and disregarded poor performance has been dismissed, though not with “prejudice.”
These suits have also been filed on behalf of participants in the 401(k) plans of Citigroup Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Genworth, Stanley Black...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/14/2023
After a lot of comings and goings, filings and amended filings, an excessive fee suit brought against a $7.9 billion multiple employer plan has faded into the sunset…
The suit was filed in May 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by McCaffree Financial Corp.,[i]...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/13/2023
“A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be.” – Carol Coats
Like many, perhaps most, of you, as a parent I’ve tried to compensate for the ways in which I felt that my parents could have done . . . “better.”
My parents led mostly through example—and powerful as...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/12/2023
You’ve heard us say that the agenda for the NAPA 401(k) Summit is put together for advisors by advisors—well, here’s your opportunity to weigh in!
That’s right, once again this year we’ve teed up a good assortment of potential topics for you to consider and vote on via our unique “cage match”...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/12/2023
A participant in yet another mega 401(k) plan claims participants paid nearly twice what they might have for “fungible” recordkeeping services.
This time it’s participant-plaintiff Matthew A. Miller[i] positioned as a representative of a Class of Participants and Beneficiaries of the $22 billion...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/9/2023
Well, here we are again at the end of yet another workweek—and yet, just look at what happened to these guys and gals…
First, some odds and ends…
The Russian Ministry of Defense has released a video that it claims shows Ukrainian armored vehicles… including at least one German-made Leopard tank…...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/9/2023
A federal judge has dismissed a multi-billion plan fiduciaries motion to dismiss an excessive fee/fiduciary breach suit.
The defendants in this case—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in early 2021—are the fiduciaries of the Magna Group of Companies Retirement...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/8/2023
The Department of Labor has pushed back on a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 25 state attorneys general that challenged its so-called ESG regulation.
The coalition,[i] led by Texas Attorney General Paxton, said in a January 2023 press release that the 2022 Rule “undermines key protections for...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/6/2023
Back in the middle of the pandemic, my then 91-year-old mother was presented with two options—one a specialist recommended, the other favored by her trusted general practice physician. And of course, it was to be…her decision.
This kind of thing happens all the time in the medical field where such...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/5/2023
Transitions to new recordkeeping platforms have been known to result in some bumps along the way—but a new lawsuit charges those overseeing and operating the federal government’s $766 billion Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with "breaches of fiduciary duties, negligence, unjust enrichment, and breach of...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/5/2023
A participant lawsuit claims that American Airlines has put retirement savings at risk by investing with managers and funds that “pursue leftist political agendas through environmental, social and governance ('ESG') strategies, proxy voting, and shareholder activism.”
Participant-plaintiff (and...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/2/2023
Well, here we are again at the end of yet another workweek—and yet, just look at what happened to these guys and gals…
First, some odds and ends…
In Fort Meade, Maryland, a new Zillow listing for a property for $42,069, but cautioned that “all 15 bathrooms come with sewage issues," the listing...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 6/2/2023
A suit that claimed a $7.3 billion plan “stocked the Plan’s investment menu with their own proprietary index funds”—while “participants got the short end of the stick” is now seeking class action status.
The plaintiffs in this case (Kohari et al. v. MetLife Group Inc. et al., case number 1:21-cv-...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/30/2023
I hadn’t been to the dentist in a long time. A VERY long time.
Two weeks ago, and at the encouragement of my wife, I finally went back to the dentist. I hadn’t been since COVID, and that period provided a very good excuse for avoiding that visit. Turns out, I hadn’t been for quite a while before...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/30/2023
A 401(k) excessive fee suit has been given a green light to proceed to trial—relying almost exclusively on the assertions of those bringing suit to establish a “plausible” case for doing so.
This suit was brought last October against plan fiduciaries on behalf of the $432 million (14,400...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/26/2023
Well, here we are again at the end of yet another workweek—and yet, just look at what happened to these guys and gals…
First, some odds and ends…
In Corbin, Kentucky, Michael Schlemmer, was driving on fumes…coasted into a Convenient Food Mart here… with $40 in his pocket…bought $20 worth of gas…...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/24/2023
The parties in a two-year old 403(b) excessive fee suit against a $2.3 billion plan have come to terms.
The suit (Garnick v. Wake Forest Univ. Baptist Med. Ctr., M.D.N.C., No. 1:21-cv-00454, complaint 6/4/21) was filed in June 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/23/2023
When you see a headline that confirms your sense of the world, you’re naturally predisposed to embrace, remember (and these days “share”) it as a validation of what you already perceive reality to be.
Indeed, as human beings, we’re drawn to perspectives, surveys, and studies that validate our...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/23/2023
A federal judge has approved the recommendation to certify a class in a proprietary fund suit—determining that even a “well-educated, well-informed, and careful investor”—might lack actual knowledge of fiduciary breaches.
The Suit
The participant-plaintiff in question here is one Brian Waldner,...
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By Nevin E. Adams, JD 5/22/2023
An excessive fee suit has moved past a motion to dismiss—apparently because of a slight shift in its arguments about recordkeeping services.
This suit was filed by participant-plaintiff Michael Mazza, a former participant (and senior director of marketing) in the $879 million, 10,205 participant...
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