DOL Fiduciary News: June 17, 2016
Please Note:
These links will take you directly to the homepage of the website that features the article.
To reach the article directly, copy and paste the article title into the search feature on the homepage of the publication website.
NAFA Protests 'Onerous' DOL Rule
Financial Advisor; June 16, 2016
The National Association of Fixed Annuities (NAFA) is urging its members to join the fight against the Department of Labor fiduciary rule.
The organization, in a webinar Thursday, asked members to contact their senators and representatives to protest the rule, which it says puts the fixed annuity industry under attack.
NAFA has joined numerous other trade organizations in filing suit against the DOL for implementing the rule. The suit has been put on a fast track at the request of NAFA, which says its members are being hurt every day that they are preparing to meet the new fiduciary standard for retirement advice.
(http://www.fa-mag.com)
Vanguard’s McNabb: DOL Got It Right; Get Used to Shrinking Fees
ThinkAdvisor; June 16, 2016
Vanguard CEO William McNabb’s frank assessment of industry change, new regulations and the future of fees captivated the crowd at the Morningstar conference in Chicago on Wednesday. For the most part, he said, the DOL got it right with its fiduciary rule, that robo-advisors are here to stay and fees will continue to drop. (http://www.thinkadvisor.com)
Barrage of Schwab ads to proclaim virtues of fiduciary advisers
InvestmentNews; June 16, 2016 @ 12:01 am
Schwab Advisor Services appears to be first out of the gate with what likely will be a flood of advertising campaigns proclaiming the virtues of financial advisers who put clients' interests ahead of their own.
Schwab is running digital and print ads aimed at highlighting the benefits of independent financial advice for high-net-worth Americans. The ads will feature about a dozen of the 7,000 independent advisers who custody assets with the firm. They also will direct the public to a website, FindYourIndependentAdvisor.com, that will offer investor education and a searchable database of Schwab advisers, said Susan Forman, senior vice president and head of marketing for Schwab Advisor Services.
(http://www.investmentnews.com)
Wall St. watchdog to review 'best interest' disclosures
Reuters; Thu June 16, 2016 10:57pm EDT
Wall Street's industry-funded watchdog will evaluate disclosures of securities firms in light of a new U.S. Labor Department retirement advice rule requiring them to act in customers' best interests, the regulator’s chief said on Thursday.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will look at whether actions by securities brokers who give retirement advice are in synch with what they tell clients in so-called "best-interest contracts" required by the Labor Department rule, said Richard Ketchum, FINRA chairman and chief executive.
FINRA does not have authority to enforce the Labor Department rule, Ketchum said. "But we do have the authority to look and see whether firms are dealing fairly with their customers and not misleading their customers,” Ketchum said at the Reuters Global Wealth Summit in New York. (http://www.reuters.com)