This. The employees participating in the 401k plan don't choose which funds the plan includes, HR people (who are often not very well-versed in investing) do. T

This. The employees participating in the 401k plan don't choose which funds the plan includes, HR people (who are often not very well-versed in investing) do. Those HR people will choose these high-ER funds because the 401k provider usually offers discounts to their direct costs for having them, essentially shifting the cost of running the 401k plan from the employer to the employees.