22. Why did you make assumptions instead of asking people how much money they lost?

We made assumptions instead of asking people how much they lost for two main reasons.

First, and most importantly, the law requires people to act reasonably. For this lawsuit, this means that if we had gone to trial, each class member’s losses would have been calculated as the difference between what they would have had under the DB plan and what they should have under the DC plan if they invested reasonably. We assumed that all funds were invested in the PH&N “Balanced Trust” Fund because this was the fund recommended to class members, and because it was the most reasonable investment for class members to make. See also FAQ#26 for more information.

Second, it would take a long time and be very expensive to try to calculate each claimant’s losses without using some assumptions and averages. Doing it this way saves the class money.

We did use some information that is specific to each class member. This is the information that is set out in the June letters.

Posted in: Questions About Sharing in the Settlement Funds (Distribution Protocol Questions), Teck/Cominco Class Action FAQs