PNC Financial 401(k) Fee Suit Fails After Expert Witness Bounced

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. defeated a 65,000-person class action by workers who challenged the fee levels in the company’s $5.7 billion 401(k) plan.

The expert witness tapped by the workers to discuss 401(k) recordkeeping fees didn’t use a reliable methodology in concluding that PNC’s fees were unreasonable, Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand said in a June 21 decision. Ty Minnich’s opinions appear to be based on his “subjective belief and experience,” Wiegand said, and not on standard industry practices like a pricing curve.

Wiegand, who sits in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, also balked ...