Fiduciary Governance

Keeping abreast of the whereabouts and life status of retirees and beneficiaries — and even terminated vested participants — are increasingly important fiduciary responsibilities. A recent newsletter discusses why this is the case and how it may be accomplished.In “Fiduciary Responsibilities:... READ MORE

“It is important that the Commission make all reasonable efforts to bring clarity and consistency” to “standards of conduct that investment professionals must follow in providing advice to Main Street investors,” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton said on July 12. He made... READ MORE

Discretion is said to be the better part of valor — but that’s not necessarily the case with discretionary accounts and the fiduciary regulation.And, according to a recent blog post, if you’re not sure how the Best Interest Contract Exemption (BIC) applies differently to discretionary accounts and... READ MORE

The Department of Labor (DOL) may be reviewing the impact of the fiduciary rule, but they’d still like the court to dismiss challenges to it.On July 3, the DOL urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to (mostly) uphold the fiduciary regulation, saying that the plaintiffs in the case —... READ MORE

Anyone who has ever found their grand idea shackled to the deliberations of a committee, or who has had to kowtow to the sensibilities of a recalcitrant compliance department, can empathize with the process that produced the Declaration of Independence.Indeed, there are any number of things that... READ MORE

Think the transition period for the fiduciary regulation will be extended? Fred Reish has some thoughts…In his most recent blog post on the fiduciary regulation (#52, if you’re counting), Reish reminds that the new fiduciary regulation went into effect on June 9, meaning that virtually all advisers... READ MORE

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued its request for comments on a potential delay in the Jan. 1, 2018, applicability date of certain provisions of the fiduciary regulation — but it’s a short window.Specifically, the Request for Information (RFI) — which had been submitted to the Office of... READ MORE

While the vast majority of plan sponsor respondents to a new survey think that eliminating or reducing pre-tax contributions to retirement savings plans is a bad idea, 85% say they would either definitely or probably continue to offer those programs if current pre-tax limits were lowered.However,... READ MORE

There’s an old regulation that has new meaning under the new fiduciary regulation — and it could catch new fiduciaries, as well as broker-dealers — by surprise.That “old” regulation is the 408(b)(2) regulation which, beginning in 2012, required that service providers to ERISA-governed retirement... READ MORE