"The BlackRock TDFs are significantly worse performing than many of the mutual fund alternatives offered by TDF providers," said the complaint in the case of Antoine et al. vs. Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.
This performance "could not have supported an expectation by prudent fiduciaries that their retention in the plan was justifiable," said the complaint filed, as with the other BlackRock target-date series lawsuits, by Miller Shah LLP, the sole or lead attorney.
BlackRock isn't a defendant.
Amelia Woltering, a spokeswoman for Marsh & McLennan, wrote in an email that the company doesn't comment on litigation.
"A simple weighing of the merits and features of all other available TDFs at the beginning of the class period would have raised significant concerns for prudent fiduciaries and indicated that the BlackRock TDFs were not a suitable and prudent option for the plan," the complaint said.
The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status, and they defined the class period covering the alleged ERISA violations as starting Aug. 4, 2016, and running through the date of judgment.
BlackRock's investment process "takes into account multiple factors, including return objectives, market cycles, time horizon, and risk management," a BlackRock spokeswoman wrote in an email. "As a result, BlackRock's LifePath Index funds are highly regarded by many fiduciary decision-makers and independent evaluators of investment products for delivering consistently strong outcomes for plan participants over time."
The plaintiffs also criticized plan fiduciaries for offering the Mercer Emerging Markets Fund. Mercer is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan.
"This affiliation is likely the sole reason defendants selected for the plan a fund with no demonstrable track record despite the availability of several prudent alternative emerging market investment options with far more developed performance histories," the lawsuit said.
"Although the Mercer Fund was removed from the plan lineup in November 2019, the fund had such a consistently poor track record as measured against both its manager-selected benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, and its emerging market fund peers that the only plausible inference is that defendants did not appropriately monitor the Mercer Fund at all during the class period," the lawsuit said.
Marsh & McLennan Companies 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan, Hoboken, N.J., had assets of $6.9 billion as of Dec. 31, according to its most recent 11-K filing.
Similar lawsuits were filed last week against Microsoft Corp. and Genworth Financial Inc.. Other prior defendants are Capital One Financial Corp.; Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.; Citigroup Inc.; Stanley Black & Decker Inc.; Cisco Systems Inc.; and Wintrust Financial Corp. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Courts in several states, and each complaint seeks class-action status.