Former participants in a KPMG 401(k) plan have sued the company and plan fiduciaries, alleging a series of ERISA violations.
"Plan fiduciaries failed to administer the plan in a prudent manner," said the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J.
The complaint criticized "the selection (and maintenance) of several funds … and payment of excessive record-keeping and administration fees that wasted the assets of the plan and the assets of participants because of unnecessary costs."
The plaintiffs alleged "total plan costs were more than double that of its peers," according to the complaint in the case of Ritorto et al vs. KPMG LLP et al. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status.
In arguing that record-keeping fees were too high, the plaintiffs alleged "there is little to suggest that defendants conducted a RFP at reasonable intervals – or certainly at any time prior to 2015 through the present -- to determine whether the plan could obtain better record-keeping and administrative fee pricing from other service providers."
They added that "the market for record keeping is highly competitive, with many vendors equally capable of providing a high-level service," according to court documents.
Making comparisons of investment fees of certain options in the KPMG plan to median fees of the same options, the plaintiffs alleged that "the defendants could not have engaged in a prudent process as it relates to evaluating investment management fees," the complaint states.
Russ Grote, a spokesman for KPMG, did not issue a comment Thursday.
The KPMG 401(k) Plan, Montvale, N.J. had assets of $6.96 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the latest Form 5500.
