Waddell & Reed’s $4.9M 401(k) Settlement Gets Final OK

Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. received final court approval of its $4.9 million deal with employees who claimed the company filled its 401(k) plan with expensive and poorly performing funds that paid fees to the company.

The class action settlement is slated to benefit 4,487 participants in Waddell & Reed’s 401(k) plan, court papers indicate.

Waddell & Reed, a Kansas-based asset manager, is one of dozens of financial companies to be sued in recent years for including affiliated investment products in their workers’ 401(k) plans. Several have signed multi-million dollar settlements, including BB&T Corp. ($24 million); American Airlines ($22 million); ...