Articles Tagged with Financial Engines

Xerox HR Solutions is now the defendant in an alleged pay-to-play scam involving Financial Engines, Inc., which offers investment advisory services through subsidiary Financial Engines Advisors. According to the proposed class action securities case, the pay-to-play scam “conspiracy” involving the two companies compelled participants of Ford Motor Co.’s retirement plans to pay unreasonable and excessive fees. The plaintiffs are three participants in the Ford plan. The 401K-related lawsuit is Chendes et al v. Xerox HR Solutions.

According to the complaint, Xerox allegedly was paid a “kickback” by Financial Engines in exchange for including the investment adviser/managed-account provider on its record-keeping platform. The plaintiffs believe that this deal between the two companies “wrongfully” inflated the price that Financial Engines charged for its professional investment advisory services. They noted that even without the excessive fees, Xerox was already getting paid a record-keeping fee.

Plaintiffs said that of the $5.8M that participants paid Xerox HR for Financial Engines Services in the pay-to-play scam in 2015, 31% of that—$1.8M—was paid to Xerox. The plaintiffs are alleging that similar payments also occurred in 2012. They contend that the fees in question were not for any “substantial services” that either company provided to plan participants.

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