Fiduciary Duty Standards and Retirement Investment Advice

In prior BLPB posts (here and here), I have written about the proposed Department of Labor fiduciary rules changing the ERISA fiduciary definition to cover anyone who provides investment advice for a fee.  Under the current framework only registered Investment Advisers are fiduciaries, not broker-dealers.  This bifurcated legal standards and payment systems has led to confusion among the public and there is evidence that it has also cost retirement savings as a result of conflicted advice.  The proposed rules were released in April 2015 and the comment period was extended through September 2015.  The DOL received over 2800 comments and held 4 days of public hearing (transcripts available here) on the proposed changes. Earlier this month, the House held 2 committee hearings on H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo) last February which would require the DOL to postpone its rule making until after the SEC issued it own standards on fiduciary duties-- something the SEC is unlikely to do.  The House Financial Services Committee hearing transcript on the continued debate is available here.

-Anne Tucker