THEOFANIS DARDAGANIS, HARRY EAGLEBERG, MARTIN GELLER, ARTHUR KOTOROS, PAUL RAPHAEL, PHILIP SIMADIRIS, as Trustees of the Retirement Fund of the Fur Manufacturing Industry, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GRACE CAPITAL INC. and H. DAVID GRACE, Defendants-Appellants, 889 F.2d 1237

Summary

Defendants, a registered investment adviser and its president, agreed to manage a retirement fund in strict conformity with investment guidelines set out by plaintiff fund trustees, but violated the guidelines by holding a greater percentage of common stock than the guidelines permitted. Plaintiffs brought suit alleging a breach of fiduciary duty, 29 U.S.C.S. § 1104(a)(1)(D). The district court granted summary judgment to plaintiffs, and defendants appealed. The court affirmed the liability rulings because no reasonable factfinder could conclude that defendants had complied with the guidelines. The trustees' failure to object earlier to defendants' management did not preclude summary judgment, because plaintiffs could not waive the right of beneficiaries to have fiduciaries comply with the Employee Retirement Security Income Act of 1974. Defendant president was correctly held personally liable because he exercised complete discretion over the disposition of fund assets. As to damages, ...