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68 Matching News Items

1.  Value of Advisors Underscored by Annuity Program Pilot
Advisor News Link to more items from this source
July 24, 2017
"Early responses to a new direct-to-consumer (D2C) annuity pilot program in Arizona reveal that buyers want to talk to someone -- or something -- before committing to a long-term retirement investment. The early findings in Nationwide's Guarantees Retirement Income program raise new questions for insurance companies serious about expanding through the growing D2C channel to reach middle-income consumers directly online."
2.  Should You Use a Robo Advisor for Retirement Investing?
U.S. News & World Report Link to more items from this source
July 19, 2017
"A robo advisor may be a good fit for your IRA or taxable investments if you want to automate your investing and don't want to be involved in day-to-day decision making. Robo advisors generally aim to perform in line with the market, rather than trying to beat it, in order to capture market gains. If you want to make more customized decisions about your investments or try to beat the market, you might want to work with an investment professional."
3.  401(k) Plan Sponsors Not Only Ones Affected by Adviser/Advisor Terminology
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Oct. 28, 2014
"'The distinction is more than just a letter. An 'advisor' who offers investment advice under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is an 'adviser.' A broker who does not serve in a fiduciary capacity can only be called an 'advisor.' Someone who designates themselves as an 'adviser' is essentially offering services under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the SEC, and FINRA because they are offering investment advice to their clients which means they are serving in a fiduciary capacity. It's the beauty and the richness of the English language that one letter can mean so much. The problem is that plan sponsors don't know the difference," says Ary Rosenbaum, an ERISA attorney at The Rosenbaum Law Firm located in Garden City, New York"."
4.  Treasury Senior Advisor Mark Iwry Explains Early History of the 401(k) and Where We Might Be Heading
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Feb. 19, 2014
"The investment industry emerged in recent years as the dominant influence on and driver of 401(k)s. It was not always this way. In fact, self-directed investment -- putting the employee in charge of determining how to invest, choosing among a considerable number of investment funds or options -- is not an inherent attribute of the 401(k). The core feature of the 401(k) is the employee's ability to choose how much to contribute, not necessarily how to invest."
5.  Good News: Most Investors Understand Target Date Funds
Financial Advisor Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2011
[But the] bad news: Slightly over 50% of that same survey group mistakenly believe that using target-date funds will guarantee that their retirement income needs will be met.
6.  Health Reform News: Final Regs on Summary of Benefits and Coverage Try to Eliminate Redundancy with SPD
HR Daily Advisor Link to more items from this source
Feb. 9, 2012
Responding to concerns that the new 'summary of benefits and coverage' (SBC) mandated by the health reform law is redundant, HHS, DOL and Treasury/IRS quickly turned around a final rule that eases some SBC requirements.
7.  Fiduciary Standards Now Govern 42 Percent of Advised Retail Assets
Advisor News Link to more items from this source
Jan. 2, 2018
"At the end of 2016, nearly $18 trillion in total assets were overseen by all financial advisors ... Of that $18 trillion, about $7.5 trillion -- 42 percent -- was subject to a fiduciary standard, either as part of a broker-dealer fee-based managed account or in a registered investment advisory (RIA) practice ... Investor awareness appears to have played a big role in pushing advisors toward fee-based models."
8.  'Bad News Bonds' Could Increase 401(k) Fiduciary Liability
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Jan. 28, 2014
"Last week State Street Global Advisors released the results of their Biannual DC Investor Survey. In part, the results confirm the results of earlier surveys that showed 401k investors are over-weighted in bonds.... Worse, finds SSGA, investors seemed to have a fundamental misunderstanding regarding the nature, risk and safety of bonds."
9.  IRS Retirement News for Employers, Summer 2010 (PDF)
Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Link to more items from this source
Aug. 23, 2010
Excerpt: The Retirement News for Employers is a periodic newsletter with retirement plan information for employers and business owners -- and their tax advisors from Employee Plans (Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) at the IRS).
10.  Massachusetts Rule Would Impose Fiduciary Standard for All Financial Advice
Advisor News Link to more items from this source
Dec. 4, 2019
"Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has signed off on a proposed rule that would impose a fiduciary conduct standard for broker-dealers, agents, investment advisers and investment adviser representatives providing financial advice to clients in the state.... A public hearing will be held on the proposal next month ... with adoption to follow as soon as Feb. 1."
11.  Firms May Need to Revisit DOL Rule Compliance Efforts After Scottrade Charges
Advisor News Link to more items from this source
Feb. 18, 2018
"[T]he state claims Scottrade ignored the policies and procedures it put in place ... to comply with the DOL rule. By ignoring those policies, the state claims Scottrade violated state laws by conducting transactions in bad faith... The Trump administration advised early in 2017 that it would not be pursuing enforcement of the fiduciary rule as long as companies were acting 'in good faith' to comply. But few could have foreseen a situation in which state regulators would seize on lax compliance with the federal regulation as an impetus for state charges[.]"
12.  Rothification of DC Plans 'A Stupid Idea,' Ex-Labor Official Says
Advisor News Link to more items from this source
Oct. 8, 2017
"Losing the flexibility to be taxed now or later narrows investor choices, and at worst may discourage middle-class earners from saving for retirement ... Deferring taxes on retirement income until the withdrawal is a major part of the discussion as it involves a host of variables, overall family income, age, hardships, life events, Social Security, inheritance, future tax rates and tax brackets."
13.  Robo-Advisors: 'Roadmap to a Rocky Future'
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
July 22, 2014
"[Question:] There's been a lot of chatter lately questioning the 'value' or 'worth' of using a financial adviser. This has led to the rise of the Robo-Advisor and a more general movement towards do-it-yourself investing. What do you see as the drawbacks of this trend ... [Answer:] Although good planning may not be rocket science, there is a reason that professionals spend years to become educated the field and continue annually to study and keep up with both new research and product trends. I would suggest to a do-it-yourselfer that planning the quality of the rest of their life with limited knowledge and blackbox software is a likely roadmap to a rocky future."
14.  District Court Finds Morgan Stanley's Deferred Compensation Program for Advisors Is Subject to ERISA
MSN News Link to more items from this source
Jan. 8, 2024
"[A] federal judge granted Morgan Stanley's request to force a group of former Morgan Stanley advisors suing the company over deferred compensation to take their claims to private arbitration. However, in that same order, the judge found that Morgan Stanley's deferred compensation programs are governed by ERISA ... Morgan Stanley [has asked] the judge to reconsider his ruling." [Shafer v. Morgan Stanley, No. 20-11047 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2023)]
15.  fi360's Blaine Aikin: DOL's Fiduciary Rule 'Takes Advisors to a Fork in the Road'
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Oct. 18, 2016
"[T]he Rule is serving as a catalyst for needed change in the overall field of professional investment advice, not just in the retirement space.... We have great practitioners in every segment and business model within financial services, but we have been operating in a broken system when it comes to advice. We have been trying to build our profession on an unstable foundation when we have two different standards of conduct for practitioners. A strong foundation for professional advice requires a consistent culture of fiduciary responsibility and enforceable adherence to the fiduciary duties of loyalty and care."
16.  When Salespeople Call Themselves Advisors
U.S. News & World Report Link to more items from this source
May 6, 2014
"The rulemakers have made it clear that a fiduciary standard need not and would not keep brokers from being properly compensated. Moreover, we have a record of experience to show us that it does not have that effect. California, Missouri, South Dakota and South Carolina have already imposed a broad fiduciary-duty standard; in all four states, brokers continue to be paid for their services, and they continue to offer them to clients up and down the income ladder. What's at stake, then, is not whether some clients will be able to get advice, but whether some financial professionals will be allowed to profit by giving bad, self-serving advice. And there is abundant evidence of misrepresentation and obfuscation under the current rules."
17.  The Best Way Plan Sponsors Should Pay Fees for 401(k) Fiduciary Advice
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Mar. 3, 2015
"The rise of the machines may sound like another Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action movie, but it may also be a harbinger of things to things to come for employees whose company's offer 401k plans. The 'Robo-Advisor' represents an automated delivery vehicle for investment advice. It has been touted as the answer to cheap, efficient, participant advice."
18.  How to Retire a Millionaire (Hint: It's Easier Than You Think)
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Feb. 25, 2014
"Why don't we see a lot of 'teenage' millionaires? First, IRAs haven't been around long enough for our hypothetical 15 year old to have turned 70 yet. More to the point, though, is why haven't we seen a lot of teenage IRAs in the first place. 'In my experience of dealing with young savers,' says Michael Lecours, Financial Advisor & Marketing Manager at Ohanesian / Lecours in West Hartford, Connecticut, 'they will always have a reason not to invest -- not enough money, simply forgot, or need money to pay other expenses. Something comes along that seems to be more important than saving for something that won't be used for 50 years.'"
19.  Michael Kitces: DOL Fiduciary Rule a 'Pivotal Moment'
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
July 19, 2016
"[If] the SEC properly enforced the rules on the books for the '40 Act and had limited brokers from holding out as financial advisors ... we may have gotten there a lot sooner. But the SEC systematically failed to enforce for the past two decades, and now the DOL has by necessity forced the issue. Ultimately, I expect we'll see the DOL Fiduciary Rule clear the decks of the most sales-oriented 'financial advisors' -- who were really just financial services product salespeople -- while having only limited impact on real advice-centric financial advisors. In the long run, this is a huge plus for establishing a recognized professional status for advisors[.]"
20.  Compliance Headaches Coming for 401(k) Plan Sponsors Due to New Fiduciary Regs in 2014?
Fiduciary News; free registration required Link to more items from this source
Jan. 7, 2014
"2014 [will] be the year of the advisor/adviser from a government affairs perspective because most of the regulatory efforts will focus on that industry. The definition of Fiduciary Rule and the Uniform Fiduciary Standard will impact both fee-based advisers and wire-house advisors.... [T]his is first time that the advisor side of the industry has been squarely in the sites of the regulators. Everyone knows what's coming so most won't be surprised, but sometimes the regulatory process upsets everyone."
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