Parties Propose Settlement of Jackson National Self-Dealing Suit

The parties in a lawsuit accusing fiduciaries of the Jackson National Life Insurance Company Defined Contribution Retirement Plan of self-dealing and imprudent investment of retirement plan assets have reached a settlement.

The settlement amount is $4.5 million. The Jackson National defendants admit no wrongdoing or liability with respect to any of the allegations in the suit.

According to the lawsuit, “Jackson National put its financial interests ahead of the plan’s interests by selecting high-cost proprietary investment products offered and managed by Jackson National and its affiliates on the plan’s menu of investment options. This allowed Jackson National to maximize company profits at the expense of the plan by collecting for itself millions of dollars in fees, an amount that greatly exceeds what the plan would have paid for comparable low-cost non- proprietary investment products that are not offered by Jackson National to the Plan.” According to the compliant, in 2014, Jackson National offered plan participants the ability to invest in 21 funds, and 18 of them were Jackson National proprietary funds.

The settlement agreement is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.