Additionally, New York Life participated in transactions prohibited by ERISA by establishing a fixed-dollar account as participants’ default investment alternative if they didn’t make a different selection, according to the suit.
NY Life Atty $19M Cut : Details of the Plans
The two plans had more than $5 billion in assets and 29,000 participants at the end of 2021, court records said. The plan participants sought class certification in June 2023, arguing that class treatment was the best way forward because all the plan participants were commonly harmed by New York Life’s ERISA violations.
NY Life Atty $19M Cut : New York Life’s Defense
New York Life shot back in August at the participants’ bid for class certification and denied that its MainStay funds had consistently underperformed or received poor ratings from consultants. The company said most investment options actually performed better than peers and those that didn’t were promptly removed. The insurance company also defended the fixed-dollar account as a “nearly risk-free, highly-performing” investment option that’s appropriate as a default for certain people.
