Shultz v. Edward D. Jones & Co. L.P.

This class action was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on August 19, 2016, on behalf of all participants in the Edward D. Jones & Co. Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (the “Plan”). The plaintiff alleged that the fiduciaries of the Plan breached fiduciary duties owed to Plan participants by selecting investment options for the Plan that were managed by preferred partners or other investment managers with corporate relationships with Edward Jones in exchange for millions of dollars in payments. The plaintiff further alleged that these investment options had higher fees than equivalent funds available in the market. As a result of the fiduciary’s actions, the Plan paid excessive fees, reducing the retirement savings of Plan participants.

On January 26, 2017, the Court dismissed the claims against one of the Defendants (The Jones Financial Companies, LLC), while permitting the case to proceed against the remainder of the Plan fiduciaries. On February 10, 2017, a Consolidated Complaint was filed, joining new plaintiffs, and an Amended Consolidated Complaint was filed on May 1, 2017.  Plaintiffs filed an Amended Consolidated Complaint on May 26, 2017 and on March 27, 2018, the Court denied Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the amended complaint.  The case proceeded to discovery.

On December 11, 2018, following negotiations between the parties, Plaintiffs presented a settlement agreement to the Court for approval.  The Court granted preliminary approval on December 13, 2018 and, following notice to the class and a hearing on April 18, 2019, the Court granted final approval to the Settlement.  The Court considered, but overruled, objections to the Settlement filed by three class members.  On June 12, 2019, one of the three objecting class members appealed the Court’s approval of the Settlement to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On January 31, 2020, the Eighth Circuit denied the appeal. Likewise, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on October 5, 2020 and affirmed the District Court’s approval of the Settlement.