Excessive Fee Litigation: The Best Defense is Compliance

Excessive fee litigation is increasing at a steady pace and all signs are it will continue to increase. The positive side of this situation is that we now have more case law to consider as we work toward compliance in creating a “best defense”. Early case law did not reflect the consistency of court decisions. Some court rulings were in direct conflict with those of other courts, and some did not seem well reasoned.

Recent excessive fee caselaw does help us determine a more solid foundation for liability mitigation. Clearly, it is most important to have a robust process for making prudent investment decisions, as per ERISA “procedural prudence”. This has always been the case, but now we have more clarity in how this process should be conducted. Courts want to see evidence that based on the information that the fiduciaries had at the time they made their decision; a robust structured process was followed.

As always, it is crucial that you follow your investment policy statement and document your process and reasons for all fiduciary-level decisions.