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Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Announces Investigation into Financial Engines, Inc. Regarding Unlawful "Pay-to-Play" Arrangements
[December 06, 2016]

Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Announces Investigation into Financial Engines, Inc. Regarding Unlawful "Pay-to-Play" Arrangements


Attorney Advertising. Keller Rohrback L.L.P. is investigating claims of an unlawful "pay-to-play" arrangement between several major service providers to employee retirement plans. The investigation focuses on Financial Engines, Inc. ("Financial Engines"-NASDAQ: FNGN). Financial Engines provides investment advice services to 401(k) plan participants-and certain 401(k) plan recordkeepers or plan administrators such as Fidelity Investments, Inc. ("Fidelity"), Hewitt Associates, LLC ("Hewitt"), Mercer Advisors, Inc. ("Mercer"), and Xerox HR Solutions, LLC ("Xerox"). The investigation focuses on whether these entities had a "pay-to-play" arrangement-wherein Financial Engines charged participants of retirement savings plans excessive fees for its investment advice services and agreed to pay Fidelity, Hewitt, Mercer, and Xerox a significant percentage of its fees in exchange for being the exclusive service provider of investment advice on their 401(k) investment platforms.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161206005670/en/

Keller Rohrback L.L.P. is investigating claims of an unlawful "pay-to-play" arrangement between seve ...

Keller Rohrback L.L.P. is investigating claims of an unlawful "pay-to-play" arrangement between several major service providers to employee retirement plans. (Photo: Business Wire)

In this arrangement, a 401(k) participant may be charged a percentage of his or her account balance for Financial Engines' services-and a portion of that fee is then shared with the recordkeeper for the plan. For example, if a participant is charged $100 by Financial Engines, Financial Engines may turn around and give $30 of that $100 to the recordkeeper for the plan-but the recordkeeper is already being compensated by separate fees. Participants may not know that these fees are being shared or that they are being overcharged.

This "pay-to-play" scheme allegedly costs participants in 401(k) and pension plans hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement earnings, and these fee sharing arrangements may have been driven by unlawful conflicts of interest.

Although not an exhaustive list, some of the companies whose retirement plans may have been subject to this "pay-to-play" arrangement include:





  • AbbVie Inc.
  • Koch Industries, Inc.
  • Allianz
  • Land O'Lakes, Inc.
  • American Electric Power Service Corp.
  • American Financial Group, Inc.
  • Praxair, Inc.
  • Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
  • Shell Oil Co.
  • Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC
  • SunTrust Banks, Inc.
  • Ardent Health Services Management Company, Inc.
  • Sutter Health
  • CBS Corp.
  • Centerpoint Energy, Inc.
  • Tenneco Automotive Operating Company, Inc.
  • Citigroup, Inc.
  • The Clorox Co.
  • Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp.
  • The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
  • Discover Financial Services, Inc.
  • The Hertz Co.
  • Edison International
  • The Home Depot, Inc.
  • Exelis, Inc.
  • Tesoro Corp.
  • Exxon Mobil Corp.
  • Thompson Reuters Holdings, Inc.
  • United Launch Alliance, LLC
  • Gannett Company, Inc.
  • United Technologies Corp.
  • General Electric Corp.
  • Wisconsin Power & Light Co.
  • Hartford Hospital
  • Xerox Business Services, LLC
  • Health Net, Inc.
  • Yum Brands, Inc.

Other companies whose retirement plans include Financial Engines also may have been subject to the "pay-to-play" arrangement. If your employer's retirement plan includes Financial Engines as an investment advisor, we encourage you to contact us to learn more.

If you would like more information regarding our investigation, please contact attorneys Kash Karmand or Gretchen Obrist via email at [email protected] or call (800) 776-6044.

Keller Rohrback, with offices in Seattle, Phoenix, New York, Santa Barbara, Ronan, and Oakland, serves as lead and co-lead counsel in ERISA and consumer protection lawsuits throughout the country and is proud to offer its expertise to clients nationwide. Our attorneys have obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of clients in excess of eighteen billion dollars.


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