The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Announces Proposed Class Action Settlement on Behalf of Investors in Vanguard Investor Target Retirement Funds

/EIN News/ -- PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. announces that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has approved the following announcement of a proposed class action settlement that would benefit investors in Vanguard Investor Target Retirement Funds:

SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY AND
PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

TO:  ALL INVESTORS IN VANGUARD INVESTOR TARGET RETIREMENT FUNDS (“INVESTOR TRFs”) WHO: (1) RESIDE IN THE UNITED STATES; (2) HELD SHARES OF THE INVESTOR TRFs IN TAXABLE ACCOUNTS OR IN TAX-ADVANTAGED ACCOUNTS WHERE CAPITAL GAINS FROM THE INVESTOR TRFs WERE DISTRIBUTED OUTSIDE OF THE TAX-ADVANTAGED ACCOUNTS; AND (3) RECEIVED CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS FROM THE INVESTOR TRFs IN 2021.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, that a hearing will be held on March 11, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable John F. Murphy, United States District Judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 3-B, 601 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed Settlement of the claims in the above-captioned Action for consideration including the sum of $40,000,000 should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) whether the proposed plan to distribute the Settlement proceeds is fair, reasonable, and adequate; (3) whether the application of Lead Counsel for an award of attorneys’ fees of up to one-third of the Settlement Amount plus interest, reimbursement of expenses of not more than $985,000, and service awards of no more than $20,000 to each Plaintiff, or $240,000 in total, should be approved; and (4) whether this Action should be dismissed with prejudice as set forth in the Stipulation of Settlement, dated November 6, 2024 (“Stipulation”). The Court reserves the right to hold the Settlement Hearing telephonically or by other virtual means.

If you received capital gains distributions in 2021 from Investor TRFs that were held in a Taxable Account or in a Tax-Advantaged Account where capital gains from the Investor TRFs in 2021 were distributed outside of the Tax-Advantaged Account, your rights may be affected by this Settlement, including the release and extinguishment of claims you may possess relating to the 2021 capital gains distributions from those funds. If you need assistance obtaining a detailed Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action (“Notice”) and a copy of the Proof of Claim and Release Form (“Proof of Claim”), you may write to, call, or contact the Claims Administrator: Vanguard Chester Funds Litigation, c/o Strategic Claims Services, 600 N. Jackson St., Ste. 205, P.O. Box 230, Media, PA 19063; (Toll-Free) (866) 274-4004; (Fax) (610) 565-7985; info@strategicclaims.net. You can also download copies of the Notice and submit your Proof of Claim online at www.strategicclaims.net/vanguard. If you are a member of the Settlement Class, to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim electronically or postmarked no later than February 11, 2025 to the Claims Administrator, establishing that you are entitled to share in the recovery. Unless you submit a written exclusion request, you will be bound by any judgment rendered in the Action whether or not you make a claim.

If you desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class, you must submit to the Claims Administrator a request for exclusion so that it is received no later than February 18, 2025, in the manner and form explained in the Notice. All members of the Settlement Class who have not requested exclusion from the Settlement Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action pursuant to the Stipulation.

Any objection to the Settlement, Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses and awards to Plaintiffs must be in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice and received no later than February 18, 2025, by each of the following:

Clerk of the Court
United States District Court
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, Room 2609
601 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Phillip Kim
THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P.A.
275 Madison Ave
40th Floor
New York, NY 10016

Lead Counsel

Maeve L. O’Connor
DEBEVOISE & PLIMPTON LLP
66 Hudson Boulevard
New York, NY 10001

Counsel for Vanguard Defendants

Daniel J. Kramer
PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
1285 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019

Counsel for Trustee Defendants

If you have any questions about the Settlement, you may call or write to Lead Counsel:

Phillip Kim
THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P.A.
275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 686-1060
philkim@rosenlegal.com

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK’S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

DATED: NOVEMBER 25, 2024	BY ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA