John Hancock Charged Excessive 401(k) Fees, Suit Claims

The pension committee “should have lowered its Total RKA fees by soliciting bids from competing providers and using its massive size and correspondent bargaining power to negotiate for fee rebates, but it did not do so, or did so ineffectively, during the Class Period,” the suit states.

The “quality or type of RKA services provided by competitor recordkeepers are comparable to that provided by John Hancock,” the suit maintains. “Any differences in these Bundled RKA services are immaterial to the price quoted by recordkeepers for such services. Failing to adjust fee arrangements, solicit bids, or negotiate for rebates with existing recordkeepers, violates a fiduciary’s duty of prudence under ERISA.”

The suit alleges a breach of fiduciary duty by Maersk and its board “for failing to monitor those members of the Pension Committee responsible for paying these unreasonable and discriminatory” fees.

These breaches of fiduciary duty “caused Plaintiff and Class Members millions of dollars of harm in the form of lower retirement account balances than they otherwise should have had in the absence of these unreasonable Plan fees,” the suit states.

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