Natixis Prevails at Court in ERISA Complaint

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ruled in favor of Natixis Investment Managers, L.P. in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act complaint brought by former employee Brian Waldner, who alleged the company mismanaged its employee 401(k) retirement plan. 

The case, first filed in February 2021, accused Natixis and its retirement committee of breaching their fiduciary duties by favoring proprietary investment funds and failing to monitor fund performance adequately. Waldner, acting on behalf of a class of plan participants, claimed these decisions led to missed investment gains. 

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was denied by the district court in December 2021. 

The lawsuit had challenged both the overall management of the Natixis 401(k) Savings and Retirement Plan and specific fund decisions, including the retention of five “at-issue” funds. Waldner argued that Natixis prioritized its business interests by favoring affiliated investment options which underperformed industry benchmarks and had higher fees than comparative funds in the market. 

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin found that, although there were isolated process failures, such as delays in removing certain funds or conducting structural reviews, it did not meet the standards of a fiduciary breach.   

The court noted that Natixis’s retirement committee relied on independent consultant s Mercer and legal counsel from Sullivan & Worcester throughout the decision–making process, which would review proprietary funds. 

According to the court, Natixis’ retirement plans defaulted participants into a non-proprietary suite of funds and offered participants several passive and active non-proprietary options and only added a proprietary fund because it was recommended by consultants. 

“Plaintiffs failed to adduce evidence that the Committee ever prioritized Natixis’s interests over those of plan participants,” the court ruled.  

A spokesperson for Natixis said the company is “gratified by the ruling.”  

Natixis 401(k) savings and retirement plan had $557.8 million in assets as of 2023 with 1,679 plan participants, according to its most recent Form 5500.