You are deemed to be part of the Class and a participant in this Action if you fit into one or more of the class or subclass definitions below, unless you expressly exclude yourself from the Class in writing. (See answer to Question 10 below.)
By order dated March 31, 2017, the Court certified this case to proceed on behalf of a class defined as follows:
All participants of ERISA plans, as well as beneficiaries of those plans, who were invested directly or indirectly in any JPM Stable Value Fund that invested in the JPM Intermediate Bond Fund and/or the Intermediate Public Bond Fund between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 and whose stable value fund investment performance underperformed the Hueler index or similar objective benchmark. Excluded from the Class are the jurists to whom this case is assigned, as well as their respective staffs; counsel who appear in this case, as well as their respective staffs, including experts they employ; the Defendants in this matter, as well as their officers and directors; any person, firm, trust, corporation, officer, director, or other individual or entity in which a Defendant has a controlling interest or that is related to or affiliated with any of the Defendants; and the legal representatives, agents, affiliates, heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any such excluded party.
In addition, the Court certified three subclasses. The first certified subclass—the “SAIF Subclass”—is defined as follows:
All participants of ERISA plans, as well as beneficiaries of those plans, who were invested directly or indirectly in the JPM Stable Asset Income Fund (“SAIF”) from between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 and whose stable value fund investment underperformed the Hueler Index or similar objective benchmark. Excluded from the Class are the jurists to whom this case is assigned, as well as their respective staffs; counsel who appear in this case, as well as their respective staffs, including experts they employ; the Defendants in this matter, as well as their officers and directors; any person, firm, trust, corporation, officer, director, or other individual or entity in which a Defendant has a controlling interest or that is related to or affiliated with any of the Defendants; and the legal representatives, agents, affiliates, heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any such excluded party.
The second certified subclass—the “ACSAF/JP Morgan Stable Value Fund Subclass”—has a class period that begins on September 17, 2007. The ACSAF/JP Morgan Stable Value Fund Subclass is defined as follows:
All participants of ERISA plans, as well as beneficiaries of those plans, who were invested directly or indirectly in the American Century Stable Asset Fund [(“ACSAF”)] immediately before JPMAM took over the Fund and received its assets in the ACSAF/JPM Stable Value Fund on or about September 17, 2007 and continuing to December 31, 2010, and whose stable value fund investment underperformed the Hueler Index or similar objective benchmark. Excluded from the class are the jurists to whom this case is assigned, as well as their respective staffs; counsel who appear in this case, as well as their respective staffs, including experts they employ; the Defendants in this matter, as well as their officers and directors; any person, firm, trust, corporation, officer, director, or other individual or entity in which a Defendant has a controlling interest or that is related to or affiliated with any of the Defendants; and the legal representatives, agents, affiliates, heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any such excluded party.
The third certified subclass—the “Caterpillar Subclass”—is defined as follows:
All participants of the Caterpillar Plan, as well as beneficiaries of those plans, who were invested directly or indirectly in JPM’s Caterpillar Stable Principal Fund or any other JPM Stable Value Fund that invested in the Intermediate Bond Fund and / or the Intermediate Public Bond Fund between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 and whose stable value fund investment performance underperformed the Hueler index or similar objective benchmark. Excluded from the class are the jurists to whom this case is assigned, as well as their respective staffs; counsel who appear in this case, as well as their respective staffs, including experts they employ; the Defendants in this matter, as well as their officers and directors; any person, firm, trust, corporation, officer, director, or other individual or entity in which a Defendant has a controlling interest or that is related to or affiliated with any of the Defendants; and the legal representatives, agents, affiliates, heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any such excluded party.
The “objective benchmark” referenced in each of these definitions will be the Lehman Brothers Intermediate Aggregate Index (later renamed the Barclays Intermediate Aggregate Index) (hereafter the “Lehman/Barclays Intermediate Aggregate Index” or the “Benchmark”).