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● USA Today
2023 Best Financial Advisory Firms
usa today best financial advisory firms 2023 logo for wellspring financial

Award based on independent survey carried out by USA TODAY and Statista. Firms need to be nominated by a participant in the survey. No prior registration is required, and no costs are involved for the nomination. The recommendations for each firm are summarized and evaluated anonymously. 
In addition to the survey results, additional metrics (e.g., data in relation to assets under management (AUM)) will be included in the final analysis.

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Federal District Court Rules Record Keepers May Use Participant Data to Cross-Sell Retail Products

Harman et al vs. Shell Oil Company et al

 

  • This class action suit, filed in January of 2020, was brought on behalf of participants in the Shell Provident Fund 401(k) Plan. The case was filed in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The allegations are typical of such suits and include contentions such as the plan fiduciaries allowed the Plan to bear unreasonable administrative costs and failed to adequately monitor the investment lineup.

 

  • Fidelity is the recordkeeper. It was named as a defendant on the grounds that it allegedly engaged in prohibited transactions under ERISA by using participant data to cross-sell. The cross-selling practices Fidelity is alleged to have engaged in are typical of many large record keepers. The complaint alleges that participant data was used to cross-sell brokerage and advisory services, insurance, credit cards and other banking services. Recent settlements of some class action lawsuits have included a provision prohibiting the plan record keeper from using participant data to cross-sell retail products.

 

  • Fidelity argued that it is not a plan fiduciary and did not engage in prohibited transactions through its use of participant data because, contrary to the allegations of the plaintiffs, such data is not a plan asset. The judge examined the Department of Labor regulations defining what constitutes a plan asset and agreed with Fidelity, granted their motion to dismiss them as a defendant. 

 


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