LarkspurRixtrema
Expert
- 31
The DOL Fiduciary Rule is dead. All we know is that something will replace it, someday. Maybe. As this article from InvestmentNews points out, that leaves advisors in a state of regulatory uncertainty. And given the recent market volatility, the article mentions an important point: that if your IRA Rollover clients experience a suboptimal outcome and second guess their rollover decisions, there could be additional risks to the advisor.
Other than avoiding rollovers completely (which really isn’t an option at all), how can advisors conduct business in a state of regulatory ambiguity? Many of our largest clients are treating rollovers as if the rule is still there. When the DOL rule was struck down, we thought that many of our clients would relax the compliance procedures that were put into place in order to conform with the rules. But other than the rare exception, that has not been the case at all. In fact, our largest client subscribed to our IRAFiduciaryOptimizer software after the DOL Rule had been vacated and rolled the software out to thousands of advisors. They rationalized that the cost of compliance is far less than costs associated with defending litigation and that our software went a long way to providing oversight and in creating a repeatable process that would document decisions in a way would compel advisors to make the right decisions regarding client rollovers.
Read more: Post DOL Fiduciary Rule Regulatory Challenges
Other than avoiding rollovers completely (which really isn’t an option at all), how can advisors conduct business in a state of regulatory ambiguity? Many of our largest clients are treating rollovers as if the rule is still there. When the DOL rule was struck down, we thought that many of our clients would relax the compliance procedures that were put into place in order to conform with the rules. But other than the rare exception, that has not been the case at all. In fact, our largest client subscribed to our IRAFiduciaryOptimizer software after the DOL Rule had been vacated and rolled the software out to thousands of advisors. They rationalized that the cost of compliance is far less than costs associated with defending litigation and that our software went a long way to providing oversight and in creating a repeatable process that would document decisions in a way would compel advisors to make the right decisions regarding client rollovers.
Read more: Post DOL Fiduciary Rule Regulatory Challenges
