Nevin's Data "Points"

Like many of you, I have spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of weeks reading and analyzing the impact and import of the new fiduciary rule proposal—not to mention the legal pundits who seek to tell us what they think it means, or might mean, regardless of what the proposal actually says. At a high level, it seems to me (and several well-regarded ERISA attorneys) that retirement plan advisors who are today operating under the auspices of PTE 2020-02 should have little to worry about under the new proposal. Indeed, the biggest controversies around the proposed rule seem to be extending the reach of PTE 2020-02 to organizations and entities that hadn’t previously had to adhere to those requirements.  But if you’re already doing so—and surely if you’re a retirement plan advisor you are—there’s little of concern in the proposal. In fact, you might well draw comfort from the possibility that entities and advisors that have competed with you for rollover bus...

I’ve long enjoyed John Oliver’s take on the world. He has a gift for bringing humor to subjects that aren’t generally seen as funny, and in the process not only helps make complex topics more approachable, he gives voice to the frustration that millions surely feel at the world around us. That said, when he decides to weigh in with his style of biting commentary on  your  profession – well, let’s just say that you’re likely to be in for a bumpy ride. And so it was this weekend,  when he took on  retirement savings, retirement advisors and the process of setting up a small plan 401(k). Now, it wasn’t as biased as some media treatments of the retirement plan profession have been. Oh, they brought in the exaggerated math on fees from that  2013 PBS Frontline special , copied (and doubled down on)  their dismissal of active management  …and he  did  reference  termites . But all in all – and while continuing to emphasize throughout th...

So, advisors, how does it feel to be compared to a termite? That’s right, a powerful coalition of retirement, union, and so-called consumer protection groups has launched a new attack on retirement plan advisors. They’re doing so ahead of the president’s State of the Union address, and doing so now because he is expected to throw his support behind the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule (re)proposal. Yes, that one. Not that they yet know what they are supporting. In a new website launched to help promote their position, even they say “If the Department gets the rule right…”, apparently relying on the word of the Department of Labor that “…its goal is to make sure that all financial professionals have a legal obligation to put the interests of their customers first when they offer retirement advice.” We don’t yet know what will be in this latest version. What we do know is that the last version raised significant concerns about its impact on the retirement plan marketplace,...