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Text of Federal District Court Opinion: No Breach of Fiduciary Duty by Aon in Lowe's Class Action Suit (PDF)

120 pages. "[T]he Court finds that Aon did not breach its fiduciary duty as an investment advisor to the Plan in proposing and encouraging Lowe's to change the Plan's investment structure and menu of investment options nor did it violate ERISA in its efforts to 'cross-sell' its delegated fiduciary services, which Lowe's -- a large, sophisticated corporation -- independently decided to engage. Also, the Court concludes that although the Aon Growth Fund that Aon selected as the Plan's delegated fiduciary investment manager did not generate as much investment gains as other investment options that, in hindsight, would have fared better, it did not breach its fiduciary duty to the Plan in selecting and maintaining the Aon Growth Fund as the primary actively managed 'equity' investment option in the Plan." [Reetz v. Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Administrative Committee of Lowe's Companies, Inc. and Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting, Inc., No. 18-075 (W.D.N.C. Oct. 12, 2021)]

Lowe's Defense Fails to Get ERISA Suit Dismissed

"The fiduciary breach lawsuit accuses plan fiduciaries of mapping $1 billion into a fund that lagged peer performance and was unpopular in the marketplace.... Following recommendations from a Magistrate Judge a federal judge from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina granted in part and denied in part Lowe's Companies' motion to dismiss[.]" [Reetz v. Lowe's Companies, Inc., No. 18-075 (W.D.N.C. Sep. 6, 2019)]