401(k) fee investigationsThe retirement plans we are looking into.
Each employer listed here offers a retirement plan whose fees we are reviewing. If you have money in one of these plans now, or did in the past, its page explains what we are looking at and how to reach us.
We are gathering information. An investigation is not a lawsuit, and none of the employer pages listed here says a lawsuit has been filed. Being listed is not an accusation, and it does not mean anyone did anything wrong.
- Employers listed
- 6
- Who can ask
- Current & former
- To talk with us
- Free
The investigation index
Find your employer’s plan
Search, or pull a drawer to read its file card.Each employer with an investigation page on this site is listed here, with what its own investigation page says: the plan it names, who it is for and the period it asks about. New investigations are added to this index as they open.
6 of 6 employers shown
The last drawer is for the plan we have not heard about yet.
All open investigations
Each line links to the employer’s own page.-
Automobile Club (AAA)
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
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Block, Inc.
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
-
Caltech
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
-
City of Hope
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
-
HCL America
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
-
LPL Financial
- Plan
- 401(k) / retirement plan
- For
- Current and former employees who contributed
- Period asked about
- A plan account at any time in roughly the last 6 years
- Stage
- Investigating
No employer in the index matches that search. Tell us about your plan instead.
The facts on each card come from that employer’s investigation page. We do not list a plan’s size, participant count or fee figures here unless the employer’s page states them.
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Free Case ReviewBefore you read the list
What an investigation is, and what it is not
An investigation is the early, quiet part of the work. We read what is public, read what the plan must give its own participants, and listen to people who have money in the plan.
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It is gathering information
We look at the plan’s public annual reports, its fee disclosures and the experience of people in it, to see whether the fees and investments raise questions worth asking.
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It is not a lawsuit
None of the employer pages in this index says a lawsuit has been filed. If a fee case is ever brought, it is generally brought in federal court, on behalf of the plan as a whole.
ERISA § 502(a)(2), (e)(1) · 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(2), (e)(1) -
It is not a finding
Being listed is not an accusation. Not every high fee is a breach of duty: whether a fee is reasonable generally depends on the services the plan gets and the process its decision-makers followed.
- Where every listed plan is nowInvestigation
Reading filings and disclosures. Talking with participants.
- Then, if warrantedA closer review
Comparing the plan with plans of a similar size, fund by fund.
- Only if the facts support itA case on behalf of the plan
Filed by a participant, for the whole plan.
- OrNo case at all
If the facts do not support a case, the review ends there.
Our method
How we look at a plan
Four documents, most of them public or yours by right.-
Public annual report
The Form 5500
Most plans covered by ERISA must file an annual report, the Form 5500, with the federal government, and the reports are open to the public. The Department of Labor’s online Form 5500 Search lets anyone look up a plan’s filings by plan name, sponsor or EIN. Large plans generally attach a schedule (Schedule C) that reports service providers who received $5,000 or more in compensation.
29 U.S.C. § 1024(a)(1) · DOL, Schedule C (Form 5500) -
Sent to participants yearly
The fee disclosure
If your plan lets you choose your own investments, it generally must give you a comparison chart at least once a year. It shows each fund’s yearly cost as a percentage (the expense ratio) and as a dollar cost per $1,000.
29 C.F.R. § 2550.404a-5(d) -
In your mailbox each quarter
Your quarterly statement
In a plan where you choose your investments, the plan generally must tell you, at least once a quarter, the dollar amount of fees actually charged to your account in the quarter before, and what they paid for.
29 C.F.R. § 2550.404a-5(c)(2)(ii), (c)(3)(ii) -
Yours on written request
The plan’s own documents
Ask the plan administrator in writing and it must send the summary plan description, the latest annual report and the documents the plan runs under. It may charge a reasonable copying fee.
ERISA § 104(b)(4) · 29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(4)
What we compare
The people who run a plan must act solely in participants’ interest, for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits and defraying reasonable plan expenses, and with the care, skill and prudence of a prudent person familiar with such matters. So we ask how this plan compares.
ERISA § 404(a)(1) · 29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(A)–(B) · Guide: fiduciary duties under ERISA- Recordkeeping and administrative costsWhat the plan pays to keep the books, set against plans of a similar size.
- Expense ratios and share classesEach fund’s yearly cost, and whether a lower-cost class of the same fund was available.
- Revenue sharingPlan costs paid out of fund expenses rather than billed as a dollar fee.
- Performance over timeHow the menu’s investments did against fair benchmarks, year after year.
- The processWhether the plan’s decision-makers kept monitoring fees and investments, not just choosing them once.
A higher fee is not, by itself, a breach. The law asks whether the fee was reasonable for the services, and whether the plan’s decision-makers followed a careful process. That is exactly what an investigation tries to learn.
If you are in one of these plans
What you can do now
Simple steps. Each one helps.Find your fee pages
Pull your latest quarterly statement and the plan’s yearly fee disclosure, often called a participant fee disclosure or an investment comparison chart. Note the dollar fees and each fund’s expense ratio.
Ask for the plan documents, in writing
Write to the plan administrator and ask for the summary plan description, the latest annual report and the plan’s governing documents. Keep a copy of your request.
29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(4)Write down your dates
When you joined the plan, when you left the job and whether you rolled your money out. A claim for breach of fiduciary duty generally must be filed within six years of the last breach, or within three years of when you actually learned of it, if that is earlier.
ERISA § 413 · 29 U.S.C. § 1113Know that the law protects you
It is generally illegal to fire, fine, suspend, discipline or discriminate against you for exercising your rights under the plan or ERISA. The law also protects anyone who gives information or testifies in an inquiry or proceeding relating to ERISA. ERISA § 510 retaliation
ERISA § 510 · 29 U.S.C. § 1140Talk it through with us
A free virtual consultation, whether you still work there or left years ago. Bring whatever you have; a single statement is enough to start.
Not in the drawer?
Don’t see your employer? Tell us about your plan.
This index lists only the plans that have an investigation page on our site. If your 401(k) or 403(b) has fees that worry you, tell us the employer’s name and what you have noticed. We will read it with you.
- Your employer’s name and the plan’s name, if you know it
- A recent quarterly statement or fee disclosure
- About when you joined the plan, and when you left, if you did
Or call (310) 853-3461
Questions
About these investigations
Does being on this list mean my employer did something wrong?
No. It means we are gathering information about the plan’s fees. Being listed is not an accusation, and it is not a finding by any court or agency.
Is there a lawsuit I can join?
None of the employer pages in this index says a lawsuit has been filed. In general, ERISA lets a participant sue on behalf of the whole plan when its fiduciaries breach their duties, and a fiduciary who breaches must make good the plan’s losses. Money recovered that way generally goes back to the plan.
29 U.S.C. §§ 1132(a)(2), 1109(a)I left the company. Can I still reach out?
Yes. Each employer page in this index invites both current and former employees to contact us. Whether a former employee can take part in a case can depend on the facts, such as when you were in the plan and whether you still have an account.
My plan is a 403(b), not a 401(k). Does that matter?
It can. Many 403(b) plans are covered by ERISA, but plans of government employers generally are not, and church plans generally are not unless they have chosen to be. If your plan is covered, its summary plan description generally includes a statement of your ERISA rights.
29 U.S.C. § 1003(b) · 29 C.F.R. § 2520.102-3(t)Can my employer punish me for asking about my plan?
ERISA § 510 generally makes it illegal to fire, fine, suspend, discipline or discriminate against a participant for exercising rights under the plan or ERISA, or against anyone for giving information or testifying in an inquiry or proceeding relating to ERISA.
29 U.S.C. § 1140 · ERISA § 510 retaliationWhat does it cost to talk with you?
The consultation is free. We work on contingency: our fee is a percentage of what we recover for you. How case costs are handled is spelled out in your written fee agreement.
Keep reading
Where this page sits
- Up one level401(k) fee lawsuitsHow excessive-fee and imprudent-investment cases work.
- The ERISA hubCalifornia ERISA lawyersRetirement plan fees and denied benefits, in one place.
- NewsThe 401(k) case the Supreme Court heard in October 2026What the case is about, and what it could mean for people in workplace plans.
- GuideFiduciary duties under ERISAWho runs your plan, and what the law requires of them.
- GuideWhat is ERISA?The federal law behind your workplace plan, explained.
- RelatedFired to block a benefit?ERISA § 510 protects you from being pushed out to stop a benefit.
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Listed employer or not, current job or old one.Attorney advertising. This page is general information, not legal advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney–client relationship. Listing an employer on this page means only that we are gathering information about its plan.
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