Parker-Hannifin Will Face Revived 401(k) Target Date Fund Suit

Former Parker-Hannifin Corp. workers on Wednesday convinced a split panel of Sixth Circuit judges to revive their lawsuit challenging the target date funds in their 401(k) plan.

The workers presented viable fiduciary breach claims based on the Northern Trust Focus Funds in their 401(k) plan, because they plausibly alleged that the funds had high investor turnover and underperformed the S&P target date fund benchmark, the court said in an opinion by Judge Karen Nelson Moore. This qualifies as a “meaningful benchmark” by which to judge the Northern Trust funds, which are passively managed and thus aimed at mimicking the ...