Genworth Financial Gets 401(k) BlackRock Class Undone on Appeal

Genworth Financial Inc. convinced the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday to undo the certification of a mandatory class of investors in its 401(k) plan who’ve challenged a suite of BlackRock Inc. target-date funds.

The goal of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit is to obtain money that would be added to workers’ individual 401(k) accounts, which is the type of individualized monetary claim that can’t be grouped together in a mandatory class action, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held.

The appeals court drew a distinction between ERISA claims involving 401(k)-style defined ...