Lawsuit Claims Underperforming TDFs Caused $65M Loss to 401(k)

A former participant in the Allstate 401(k) plan accuses plan fiduciaries of keeping poorly performing target-date funds on the investment menu and as the plan's default investment.

A former participant in the Allstate 401(k) Savings Plan has filed a lawsuit accusing fiduciaries of breaching their duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by continuing to include allegedly poorly performing target-date funds (TDFs) on the plan’s investment menu.

The complaint recognizes that the plan participants can invest their retirement savings in any fund the fiduciaries select for the plan. However, it says plan fiduciaries have a duty to prudently select investment options, regularly monitor them and remove ones that become imprudent. Further, the plaintiff claims that the plan’s fiduciaries made the situation worse than it would have been by using the Northern Trust Focus Funds—the TDFs in the plan—as the default investment option when enrolling employees into the plan.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

According to the complaint, “The Northern Trust Focus Funds have significantly underperformed their benchmark indices and comparable target-date funds since Northern Trust launched them in 2010. For nearly a decade, the Northern Trust Focus Funds have performed worse than 70% to 90% of peer funds.” Still, the plaintiff says, the plan’s fiduciaries did not remove the funds from the investment menu.

“Based on an analysis of data compiled by Morningstar Inc., the plaintiff projects the plan lost upwards of $65 million in retirement savings since 2014 because of the defendants’ decision to retain the Northern Trust Focus Funds in the plan instead of removing them,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit seeks to enforce the defendants’ personal liability under ERISA to make good to the plan all losses resulting from each breach of fiduciary duty occurring from October 30, 2014, through December 31, 2019. The plaintiff also “seeks such other equitable or remedial relief for the plan as the court may deem appropriate.”

This is not the first lawsuit challenging the use of the Northern Trust Focus Funds in a 401(k) plan investment lineup. In August 2019, a group of current and former participants in the Walgreen Profit-Sharing Retirement Plan filed a similar complaint. Northern Trust was not named as a defendant in the Walgreen suit or the Allstate suit.

Allstate has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Gen Z Workers Need Financial Advice

Financial challenges should be addressed before saving for retirement can be effective.

401(k) plans have always existed for Generation Z, and it’s likely that most members of the generation were automatically enrolled in their company’s retirement plan when they were hired. Furthermore, industry experts say Gen Zers are tech savvy and are conscious of their futures—most begin saving for retirement as soon as they start their career.

But, despite Gen Z’s potential great start to saving for retirement, it’s worth noting the setbacks this group faces. Aside from rising student loan debt, younger employees are more likely to have less emergency savings than their older counterparts, and they are more likely to be unemployed or laid off, especially in the COVID-19 economy.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Employees are encouraged to save between 12% to 15% of their income a year for retirement, but many Gen Zers are falling off track, says Sandra Pappa, principal consultant at Buck Global LLC. “For that group of employees who may have had to tap into their retirement savings because they were furloughed or took a cut in pay, all of those factors reduced their ability to stay on track with that 12% a year,” she notes. “When those things happened, they have to make up for lost time.”

Dan Keady, chief financial planning strategist for TIAA, says a TIAA survey found that across all age groups, employees are listing paying off debt, saving into an emergency fund and saving for retirement as top priorities. And, Gen Z employees are looking to their employers to assist with their financial futures. “People are looking at their employers, and plans, to provide more than just retirement savings, to be the starting point to really creating financial wellness and getting rid of as much financial fragility as possible,” Keady says.

Pappa points out that some employers offer benefits to help employees with their finances, including student loan debt repayment solutions, after-tax Roth accounts and investment advice.

Chris Keller, a partner at Kingman Financial Group, explains that having a Roth account helps with overall finances because rising tax brackets influence a worker’s retirement savings. “If our taxes are going to go up in the future, we need to pay attention to what the taxes will be on it when we retire,” he says.

In addition, Pappa says some employers offer a Roth account that employees might use as an emergency savings vehicle. Having an account in a 401(k) or 403(b) offers professional oversight and investment management that most employees can’t get on their own on that same level, she adds.

Keller says individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Roth IRAs, fixed-income annuities and life insurance are additional vehicles that can help Gen Zers safeguard their financial futures. Keller recommends Gen Zers look into life insurance in particular because of its growth potential for tax-free income. He suggests that younger employees contribute up to their employer-sponsored match in their defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, and then invest savings into some other assets. Gen Z employees should think about risk in their portfolios, taxes and how their savings would be affected if they have a family one day.

Employers should recognize that Gen Zers grew up in the digital world. A Morningstar study found most Gen Zers use at least one financial app for budgeting, investing or everyday banking, and most use these apps every day. “They want to have budget apps that help them with their cash flow. They want to be able to keep up on their emergency funds and their retirement savings. You’re going to see more of these basics are done through technology,” Keady says.

Despite their dependence on technology, the Morningstar research found Gen Zers trust human interactions with financial advisers more than robo-advisers. Thirty percent reported that they’ve met with an adviser at least once before. It’s likely that despite their tech-savviness, Gen Zers still value the expertise an adviser can offer. “Most don’t have the ability to do the in-depth research,” Pappa says.

«