Five Weyerhaeuser Co. retirees filed a lawsuit against the company, its independent fiduciary State Street Global Advisors and others, alleging a breach of fiduciary duties related to Weyerhaeuser’s pension buyout transaction with an Athene Holdings subsidiary.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges that Weyerhaeuser and its administrative committee, SSGA and five unnamed individuals violated their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by purchasing a group annuity contract from the Athene subsidiary in 2019.
According to the court filing, the contract transferred the responsibility of paying benefits to about 28,500 retirees and beneficiaries to the insurer.
The name of the insurer was not disclosed by the company at the time, but the court filing says the contract was signed with either Athene Annuity and Life Co. or Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Co. of New York.
Alternative investments giant Apollo Global Management owns Athene, and the suit alleges that connection makes the insurance company less safe.
The lawsuit claims the company and other defendants breached their fiduciary duties by not selecting “the safest possible annuity available,” according to the court filing. Interpretive Bulletin 95-1, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration guidance related to the fiduciary standards of pension risk transfer transactions that requires plan sponsors to purchase the “safest annuity available.”
Athene not a defendant
Athene Holdings is not a defendant in the lawsuit, which is at least the seventh such lawsuit filed by retirees against firms who have completed pension buyout transactions with Athene and/or subsidiaries in 2024. All contain nearly identical allegations and have Schlichter Bogard LLP as one of the attorneys for plaintiffs.
A spokesperson for Athene said in a statement: "These complaints are entirely baseless attempts by class action attorneys to enrich themselves at the expense of retirees. Every pension group annuity participant whose benefits have been guaranteed by Athene has received and will receive their promised benefits in full."
"In each pension group annuity transaction for which Athene has been selected, there has been a robust review process carried out by a fiduciary and their independent advisers who are experts at assessing insurer safety," the spokesperson said. "Athene operates from a position of outstanding financial strength, and is a safe and secure provider of annuity benefits. We are properly reserved, and have excellent capitalization and strong credit ratings, with a recent rating upgrade to A+ by AM Best."
