DOL Fiduciary News: January 18, 2017
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Second round of DOL fiduciary rule FAQs clears confusion on common compensation practice for 401(k) advisers
InvestmentNews; Jan 17, 2017 @ 4:42 pm
The Department of Labor, in its recent round of answers to frequently asked questions on the fiduciary rule, green-lit a popular compensation method used by retirement plan advisers that some had called into question following the department's previous regulatory guidance.
The DOL's second tranche of adviser FAQs, published Friday, clarifies that an adviser charging clients a level asset-based fee for providing advice on 401(k) fund offerings may use revenue-sharing payments to offset part or all of that level fee, without running afoul of the fiduciary regulation.
(http://www.investmentnews.com)
CFP Board gets nod in Labor Department's investor fiduciary FAQs
InvestmentNews; Jan 17, 2017 @ 4:19 pm
If 30 questions weren't enough to satisfy investors' queries about a Labor Department investment advice rule, the agency provided additional resources at the end of a document (https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/consumer-protections-for-retirement-investors-your-rights-and-financial-advisers.pdf) released last Friday.
Only two groups cited in the coda to the frequently asked questions were not government organizations: the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. and AARP.
(http://www.investmentnews.com)
This Is the Real Reason Wall Street Should Fear the ‘Fiduciary Rule’
FORTUNE: January 17, 2017, 8:40 AM Eastern
Big banks and brokerages have been publicly fretting about how a new rule on retirement accounts might reduce their income. But at least one observer thinks they should be more worried about how it might jack up their legal fees.
The threat in question is the so-called fiduciary rule, a regulation approved by the Department of Labor last year and scheduled to go into effect this April. The rule applies to retirement accounts, and it states that when working with investors, "The Financial Institution and the Adviser(s) [must] provide investment advice that is, at the time of the recommendation, in the Best Interest of the Retirement Investor."
(http://fortune.com)
Transamerica announces I-Share fee-based variable annuity
BALTIMORE, Jan. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Transamerica is launching the Transamerica Variable Annuity I-Share, a fee-based variable annuity that offers investors and their advisors additional flexibility in planning for retirement. Transamerica's Variable Annuity I-Share is available through broker-dealer managed money platforms, and charges an annualized fee that is based on a percentage of the investor's assets, with no commission charge upon purchase and no surrender charge.
(http://www.prnewswire.com)