Nationwide Guaranteed 401(k) Fund Suit Certified as Class Action

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. workers challenging an affiliated Guaranteed Investment Fund in their $8.2 billion 401(k) plan scored a court order certifying their case as a 50,000-person class action.

Judge Sarah D. Morrison on Thursday granted the workers’ motion to certify a class covering people who invested in Nationwide’s guaranteed fund through the company’s retirement plan since 2014. The case turns on common allegations about the company’s conduct that can be resolved on a class-wide basis, including whether Nationwide took improper fees from the fund and whether it improperly kept the fund as a plan investment option, Morrison said.

Nationwide ...