DOL Fiduciary News: August 11, 2016

 

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MassMutual ‘Leaning Toward’ BD Channel Sales 

InsuranceNewsNet; August 10, 2016  

MassMutual Financial Group is “leaning toward” selling financial products into retirement accounts through broker-dealers to satisfy new Department of Labor fiduciary rules.

Companies are busy deciding how to sell popular products such as fixed indexed annuities under the new DOL rules, which start taking effect in April. Analysts say banks and broker-dealers could take business away from independent agents as companies seek the best channels to limit their liability.

Meanwhile, MassMutual is developing a new fixed indexed annuity with MetLife, the first such product for the company. The annuity could be sold in partnership with Brighthouse Financial, which MetLife is about to spin off as a separate company, a MassMutual executive said.
(http://insurancenewsnet.com) 

 

The final DOL fiduciary rule: What it means to plan sponsors
[Vanguard regulatory brief] 

August 8, 2016

In this Regulatory Brief (https://institutional.vanguard.com/iam/pdf/FIDRULPA.pdf), Vanguard Strategic Retirement Consulting's Janet Luxton and Gene Paranczak examine the impact of the DOL's final regulation expanding the definition of a fiduciary, including a broader definition of advice, a new "best interest contract" prohibited transaction exemption, and revised existing prohibited transactions.
(https://institutional.vanguard.com)