Jackson National employees sue firm over 401(k) plan

Jackson National Life Insurance employees have charged that the company selected high-cost, proprietary products for the firm’s 401(k) plan, violating its fiduciary duty, according to a class action lawsuit.

The suit, filed in federal court in Lansing, Mich., seeks to have the insurance company pay the plan for “all losses resulting from each breach of fiduciary duty and to restore to the plan any profits made through Jackson National’s imprudent use of the plan’s assets.”

The plaintiffs, who also are seeking any other relief the court may consider appropriate, charge that their plan lost unspecified millions of dollars as a result of participants being offered 18 funds, out of a total of 21, that were Jackson National proprietary funds.

“The overwhelming majority of the proprietary funds were virtually identical to funds offered by unaffiliated financial institutions at a fraction of the cost,” the suit charged, adding that Jackson National “collected large fees from participants” who participated in the funds. The suit says that in 2015, the plan had total investments of $664,718,525, of which 76% was invested in Jackson National proprietary funds.

The employees cite Morningstar reports that those funds’ fees were above average and that their performance significantly lagged appropriate benchmarks.

Jackson declined to comment pending on the litigation, in accordance with the firm’s policies, but did provide a statement saying that it was “proud to provide competitive benefits to associates, including generous profit-sharing contributions and workshops to help associates maximize the benefits provided by Jackson’s 401(k) plan.”