Case: Retirement Plans/Fiduciary Duties (8th Cir.)

The Eighth Circuit held that Principal Life Insurance Co. could be liable as a fiduciary in this ERISA class action challenging profits from guaranteed investment products offered in 401(k) plans. Employees who invested in the plan, which set a guaranteed rate of return every six months, alleged that Principal, a service provider to the plan, violated ERISA. According to the court, a 401(k) service provider is an ERISA fiduciary if it did not merely follow a specific contractual term and if it took a unilateral action involving plan assets, without allowing an opportunity to reject the decision. In finding that ...