The Department of Labor (DOL) issues the first of a few Q&As to help with financial advisors to cope with meeting the requirements of the new fiduciary rule coming down the pike in April.
For those hoping for some sort of reprieve through an implementation delay, they were not going to get it. After looking through the 34 questions and answers, it just validates what I’ve been saying all along about the DOL. They are really serious in changing the retirement plan industry when it comes to financial advisory work. Some of the requirements are quite burdensome for those who need to meet the Fiduciary standard, but they are really targeting the crux of what was really plaguing the retirement plan business, the inherent conflicts of interest. The new rule and the Q&A is changing how brokers and broker dealers sell and act, the client’s needs are going to come first. Even if you’ve always been a level fee financial advisor, there are some issues with rollovers that you’re going to have to deal with that you never contemplated. There is certainly something in that Q&A that’s going to upset you if you’re a financial advisor.
Unless there is some reprieve by the next administration, any broker or broker-dealer is going to have to deal with a changing world.
