In-House 401(k) Fund Suits Cost Financial Companies $430 Million

Lawsuits against companies that put their own financial products in their employees’ 401(k) plans have garnered more than $430 million in settlements since 2015, a Bloomberg Law analysis shows.

Employees at JPMorgan Chase & Co., BlackRock Institutional Trust Co., Franklin Templeton, and dozens of other financial companies have challenged this practice over the past decade. They say the mutual funds and other investment products that their employer sells to outside investors don’t belong in their employee 401(k) plans, because they perform worse than funds from competitors, charge high fees that benefit their employers, and eat into their ...