Suit hits Principal on marketing methods

Marketing practices in the vast mutual fund sales machinery were in the news a lot during the mutual fund scandals. The news value has been eclipsed by the credit crunch but this is interesting: Two women have sued Principal Financial Group, alleging that the firm used deceptive practices to get them to rollover their 401k money, the AP reports. The suit says people were contacted by Principal, which also held the 401k accounts, in a way that led them to believe they were talking to an account manager. In reality, they were talking to a sales person. The only fund that people could rollover into had extraordinarily high fees and undisclosed compensation was paid. The company says it will defend itself against the charges.  

For more:
- here's the AP article
- more mutual fund news