Next week, a St. Louis district court will begin to hear participants' arguments that the second largest 401(k) plan in the country violated its fiduciary obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

A class of 190,000 participants and retirees in Boeing Inc.'s Voluntary Investment Plan, a 401(k) with about $45 billion in assets, allege that company fiduciaries knowingly allowed State Street, the plan's recordkeeper, to charge excessive fees, and that they failed their duty to prudence by allowing expensive and risky investment options.

Spano V. Boeing was originally filed in September 2006. Plaintiffs allege Boeing allowed State Street to charge recordkeeping fees that were 35 percent more expensive than the highest end of an industry benchmark range provided by the consultant Boeing hired to do a plan cost analysis.

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Nick Thornton

Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.