Filing a Fidelity 401k Lawsuit Over Undisclosed Fees

A 401k plan is meant to help workers save money over the course of their careers in order to plan for their retirement. Unfortunately, allegations have been leveled against Fidelity Investments, claiming that the investment company charges unfair fees that it has not disclosed to its customers. This could prompt a Fidelity 401k lawsuit. 

Fidelity Investments Undisclosed Fees

Since 2016, Fidelity has allegedly charged an undisclosed “infrastructure fee,” which reportedly comes to 0.15 percent of customer assets and industry-wide assets.

According to the Wall Street Journal, these fees are “obscure and confidential,” and may not be apparent to investors. These fees may bring Fidelity Investments tens of millions of dollars per year, at their customers’ expense—and without their knowledge. Fidelity maintains that it has no obligation to disclose these fees to its investor customers.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Labor Department has launched an investigation into these obscured Fidelity Investments fees.

Some investors allege that these Fidelity mutual fund fees were not properly disclosed, and may violate the federal laws that are in place to protect retirement and pension plans. The Labor Department is not the only organization making inquiries into Fidelity’s fees—Fidelity and other financial institutions have been hit with inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

These undisclosed fees do not just apply to Fidelity customers specifically but to anyone with a company that uses the Fidelity platform. If your 401k is through one of the companies that use the Fidelity Investments platform, you may also be eligible for compensation.

These following funds use the Fidelity platform and their users may have been affected:

• Eaton Vance Corp.
• Nuveen Investments
• Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO)
• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Filing a Fidelity 401k Lawsuit

A Fidelity 401k lawsuit was filed against Fidelity in February 2019 by one of its 401k participants over a similar issue with undisclosed fees. The lawsuit alleged that Fidelity charged investment entities, like mutual funds, to make “kickback” payments if the amount of revenue-sharing payments made to the company fell below a certain level.

These kinds of undisclosed charges may violate ERISA, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which requires the disclosure of indirect compensation, such as fees or charges.

One plaintiff involved in a class action lawsuit alleged that Fidelity concealed “the true nature of fees associated with these funds.” By concealing these fees, Fidelity allegedly reaped tens of millions of dollars in profits. The company maintains that it has no obligation to disclose these charges to investors.

A class action investigation has been launched looking into Fidelity’s alleged charging of undisclosed fees or kickbacks. If you have your 401k through Fidelity Investments, or through other companies using the Fidelity platform, you may be able to join this class action Fidelity 401k lawsuit investigation. You may have been charged an undisclosed “infrastructure fee,” or even charging a “kickback” fee.

Join a Free Fidelity 401(k) Fees Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you invested in a 401(k) or another fund through Fidelity or in another fund that uses the Fidelity platform, you may qualify to join this Fidelity class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.