John Hancock In-House 401(k) Fund Suit Certified as Class Action

John Hancock Life Insurance Co. is now facing a class action challenging the affiliated investment options in its 401(k) plan, after a Boston federal judge on Wednesday granted the plan participants’ unopposed motion to certify a 9,800-person class.

Judge Richard G. Stearns of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts certified the class seven months after allowing the entirety of Jennifer Baker’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit to move forward over John Hancock’s motion to dismiss.

Baker claims John Hancock mismanaged its workers’ 401(k) plan by filling it with poorly performing, expensive funds that pay fees ...