Aon Hewitt Reaches Settlement Over Safeway’s $1.9B 401(k) Plan

Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting Inc. has reached a proposed classwide settlement of a suit targeting its role as investment adviser to Safeway Inc.‘s $1.9 billion 401(k) plan.

The agreement in principle comes five days before trial was scheduled to start in the Northern District of California. The amount of the settlement hasn’t been disclosed.

The plan’s investors allege that Aon breached its fiduciary duties in the course of advising Safeway on five underperforming funds in the grocery chain’s 401(k) plan.

The complaint also claims the plan charged high administrative fees and offered opaque, expensive, and poorly-performing investment options.

The ...