Thread regarding Northern Trust Corp. layoffs

Below is the link to the AutoZone lawsuit reported by Pionline.com

https://si-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/planadviser-com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/24124830/IannonevAutoZoneAmendedComplaint.pdf

"Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway is investigating Northern Trust’s employee 401k accounts / Thrift-Incentive Plan / Northern Trust Focus Target Retirement Trusts. Our initial investigation has uncovered that Northern Trust may have made overly risky investment choices and failed to regularly monitor its employee’s 401k plan, causing employees to lose money in their retirement funds and suffer decreased employee benefits."
https://www.peifferwolf.com/northern-trust-401k-lawsuit-thrift-incentive-plan-tip-lawsuit/

Following lawsuits by Northern's own employees against "No-Trust", the underperforming internally managed 401k funds were replaced with a competitor’s funds.

Pensions & Investments reported on June 29, 2022…

Northern Trust replaces proprietary target-date funds with BlackRock series
Northern Trust Corp., Chicago, replaced its own proprietary target-date fund lineup in its 401(k) plan with the BlackRock LifePath Index Fund series…

Two lawsuits had been filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago in November 2020 and June 2021 by 401(k) plan participants claiming the bank had violated its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by providing its own proprietary target-date series in the 401(k) plan.

The new 11-K filing does not say whether the change is connected to the lawsuits.

https://www.pionline.com/searches-and-hires/northern-trust-replaces-proprietary-target-date-funds-blackrock-series

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating Northern Trust Corp. to determine if it was involved in the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund.

The watchdog is probing whether the Chicago-based firm allowed illiquid holdings in the Equity Income Fund to surpass the 10% limit, which led to the fund's suspension in 2019.

In January, reports surfaced that the cost of winding up the equity income fund for investors would be at least £10 million. Link Fund Solutions has already paid £5 million for the past three months and the additional costs are estimated to be £5.3 million.

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/fca-probes-northern-trust-over-potential-involvement-in-collapsed-woodford-fund-59579275

Northern Trust sued over cash collateral losses

Northern Trust Global Investments and its parent, Northern Trust Co., are facing a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago by a participant in the $19.8 billion 401(k) plan of Exxon Mobil Corp., Irving, Texas, over losses from his investment in a Northern Trust S&P 500 index fund.

The lawsuit alleges Northern Trust breached its fiduciary responsibility under ERISA. It seeks damages for losses suffered by defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans stemming from the bank’s securities lending activities. Attorneys for the plaintiff, Joseph L. Diebold Jr., are seeking class-action status.

The complaint alleges that Northern Trust was imprudent in investing cash collateral pools or collective trusts in its securities lending program in illiquid and leveraged assets, which led to losses.

PPL Corp. Sued Over Northern Trust Funds in Retirement Plans

PPL Corp. was sued Jan. 12, 2022 in federal court by current and former employees who say the Pennsylvania-based utility mismanaged its retirement plans by filling them with defective and underperforming target date funds from Northern Trust.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/ppl-corp-sued-over-northern-trust-funds-in-retirement-plans