With some of the universities named in the lawsuits holding more than 400 fund options managed by five or more record keepers, universities will have a difficult time wading through details of each fund to determine if and how they could have noticed trends of investment underperformance. But with higher education at large struggling to maintain endowment gains, and being pressured to funnel more of that money to low-income students or to justify development strategy, there is little room for error in management of funds, even in multi-billion dollar funds finance vehicles.

University leaders, particularly at institutions with high endowments and a multitude of investment options for employees, are sure to find themselves on the defendant side of this lawsuit. And when that happens, they must be prepared for the legal and public relations costs of explaining why they made what could have been a simple, transparent process more complex to the detriment of employees.