(Sorry don’t have access to a non-pay wall version)
https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2024/02/23/sas-sued-401k-retirement-plan-fund-losses-jpmorgan.html
34 replies (most recent on top)
So what is the resolution?
There is this link, but the PDFs are behind a paywall.
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/52421149/Enstrom_et_al_v_SAS_Institute_Inc_et_al
just crickets
Has anybody heard any updates or what is happening about this??
another link, but who knows
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68274186/enstrom-v-sas-institute-inc/
Does anyone have any update on the status of this lawsuit??
Another link, but still no new information that I can find.
https://casetext.com/case/enstrom-v-sas-inst
HR has not said a word.
@Rlzz+1rfeGJXV
Timeline update - looks like it will be beyond September before there is anything meaningful. Correct me if I am wrong.
https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/north-carolina/ncedce/5:2024cv00105/208108/12
Another lawsuit:
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/travel/hotels-class-action-accuses-hilton-wyndham-others-of-price-fixing/
Interesting, I would say settlement given mediation. I hope the rest of us get to see what they settle on!
@Roav+1rfeGJXV
Thank you for that link! All the PDFs are behind a paywall, unfortunately.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Case Selected for Mediation Wed 04/10 3:57 PM
Does that mean that a settlement is being discussed, or does it mean that the case does not go to court?
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/52421149/Enstrom_et_al_v_SAS_Institute_Inc_et_al
Has anyone heard or seen any updates?
How long does something like this usually take to litigate or settle?
archive link... https://archive.is/iNjTw
I had the same thought. Class action lawsuits tend to make lawyers rich and no one else. We would benefit more from the elusive VRBP at that point.
Thinking strategically for a few moments...
IF the suit is deemed by a court to have merit, then the people who were most harmed are those who have the most money in the target date accounts. They are the ones who have been investing for the longest time, i.e. those closest to retirement.
Strategy: offer a VRBP and make exclusion from participation in the class-action suit a condition of acceptance. SAS benefits by removing from participation those who would be awarded the largest settlement amounts in the event that the plaintiffs prevail, and thereby limit SAS exposure to that risk. Those with the large balances benefit by getting a bird-in-the-hand VRBO instead of gambling on a class-action settlement. Win-win.
Thoughts?
Either you did not bother to read the lawsuit - or you failed to comprehend it.
@1xuj+1rfeGJXV On the contrary I’m very familiar with the options inside our 401k. My choices in 2022 closely mirrored the broader state of the various indexes that year.
You might not like it but you have decent choices within our 401k. What you choose to do with those choices is on you.
If you have problems with that I suggest you not contribute to 401k and invest your money independently. You won’t get the tax benefits but sounds like you all should make out like bandits without SAS dragging you down.
And all you people downvoting the post stating the overall market return of the various indexes in 2022 please do explain the downvotes. I’ll wait…
Either you did not bother to read the lawsuit - or you failed to comprehend it.
We are not allowed to choose other target date funds in our 401k. That is the catch with a 401K - the choice of funds is limited to what the fund trustees allow. The whole point of the lawsuit is that we have only those JPM target date funds without being able to choose other target date funds that performed better because the trustees failed to take fiduciary action.
I DO have other investments outside of the 401k and am free to choose investments therein.
@1wjv+1rfeGJXV Trying very hard to be respectful but blind faith isn’t going to cut it.
You need to either monitor your own situation and course correct as needed or be willing to accept the results of whatever course you are trusting.
How could you not look at your retirement money at least once a year and see the rates of return for your holdings as well as the other quite good options in our portfolio?
Every managed date targeted fund is not successful. Some are successful and some aren’t.
@1ozo+1rfeGJXV What market news were you seeing in 2022?
For 2022
Dow : -9%
Nasdaq: -33%
Russell: -21.6%
SP500: -19.4%
Thank you for posting that link. I just read the entire 35 page filing. Wow. I am invested in one of those target date funds, and have for years had blind faith that HR leadership had been doing the right thing. The plaintiffs show evidence that almost every other target date fund was doing better. I hope that the right thing will be done.
Thanks @1ckb+1rfeGJXV. Read through the suit and what a load of cr-p.
Basically they are suing because of their own ignorance. I don’t doubt our legal system will be sympathetic but at what point is there individual accountability?
Thank you! I wondered why my 401k didn't seem to compare to market news.
https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/EnstrometalvSASInstituteIncDocketNo524cv00105EDNCFeb222024CourtDo?doc_id=X5BDCEKAMC69688QN3OFIEO4M8O
My 1-year rate of return for the SAS retirement plan is +23.92% (as of 01/31/24), can anyone beat dat?
@ipl+1rfeGJXV Good for them in what way?
Seems like a BS lawsuit
2nd paragraph, last sentence correction:
… of the SAS Profit Sharing plan …
Long ago, the SAS Profit Sharing plan was privately managed, in-house, in part by an eccentric display products developer who drove a beat up, dirty mini pickup, complete with blocks and half full concrete bags in the back … apparently was building his own house. Don’t think the guy ever slept.
There were years when the overall stock market was growing at 20+% and we were getting 2-5% returns. Employee outrage ultimately led to Fidelity being selected to manage the fund as individual 401K accounts with some employee discretion over investment choices. Wager that many SAS employees with 30-40 year’s service would be considerably wealthier had the original Profit Sharing plan been appropriately managed. We’re talking a 30x increase in the Dow between 1984 and now, hamstrung by poor performance of the SAS in some critical early years. Who knows if there are even records that far back but I wonder what a forensic audit would reveal?
Good for them!
Pathetic. Hope it gets thrown out immediately.
That seems like a bit of a stretch. 2022 su-ked. 2023 rocked.
Fast copy paste:
Cary's largest employer is getting slapped with a federal lawsuit over its 401(k) plan.
The complaint accuses analytics firm SAS and its board of mismanaging employees' retirement plans, losing hundreds of millions in value in the process. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of former SAS employees Betsy Enstrom, John Stana and Randall Wagner and names SAS, its board and its retirement committee as defendants.
Defendants, according to the lawsuit, are named due to their status as fiduciaries of the company’s retirement plan. The plan held more than $3.6 billion at the end of 2021, but $2.8 billion at the end of 2022.
The lawsuit argues that as one of the largest plans in the U.S. – SAS has around 12,000 employees – it had “substantial bargaining power to obtain the most cost-efficient investments.”
“Defendants, however, did not exercise appropriate judgment in scrutinizing each investment option … to ensure it was prudent,” the lawsuit says.
SAS declined to comment on the case Friday.
SAS aerial campusexpand
SAS campus in Cary
SAS
According to trade publication Pension & Investments, assets of the top 300 retirement plans fell 12.9 percent in 2022 to $20.6 trillion, compared with 8.9 percent growth in 2021.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs also allege their funds further suffered because they had to pay “unreasonable” fees to the consultant SAS had tapped, Aon Investments, that “cannot be justified given the lower performing funds in the Plan.”
The lawsuit characterizes the more than half a million in fees paid to Aon between 2018 and 2022 as unjustified due to the “abysmal” performance of the plan.
The lawsuit also calls out a group of target date funds from JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) that, despite consistent underperformance, the company continued to offer as part of the plan.
Plaintiffs claim SAS denied their request for meeting minutes of the retirement committee in order to “discover the details of the Plan’s mismanagement.”
Attorneys say in the lawsuit that defendants should be held liable to restore to the plan “all losses caused by their failure to adequately monitor [the plan].”
The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed by attorney John Szymankiewics on Thursday.
The lawsuit comes as SAS, led by founding CEO Jim Goodnight, continues to work toward a potential initial public offering, a move that has meant some department shuffling, as well as a restructure when it comes to corporate jets.