Fiduciary Policy

How Do You Know When It's Time for a New Retirement Plan Advisor?

As a benefits professional, the relationship you have with your retirement advisor is a crucial one. Their role is to help you navigate some of the most complicated aspects of your job. A few phrases we often hear employers use to justify sticking it out with their current advisor are (even if the relationship isn’t working): "I think my advisor does everything they're supposed to do, performing an advisor search isn't worth the effort, and we've been doing business with them for years." Relationships are important in business, but it's not always equitable to getting the best service possible and doing what's right for your organization and, most importantly – your employees?

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Final Ruling: What Does the New Fiduciary Rule Mean for You?

You may have heard about announcement of new Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rules today. In reviewing the final regulation’s highlights – I think the DOL has worked very closely with many industry practitioners in an effort to construct a workable rule that best serves working Americans while also recognizing the importance of advisors and service providers in creating successful retirement plans.

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Tibble v. Edison: What the Supreme Court Ruling Means for Fiduciaries

AdobeStock_61493778.jpegThe Supreme Court released their ruling and written commentary on a landmark ERISA case, Tibble v. Edison International. Employees of Edison International accused their employer of favoring high-cost mutual funds over lower-cost options. On a 9-0 vote, the court threw out an appeals court ruling that limited the number of claims that could be made in the case due to a statute of limitations.

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A Fiduciary Advisor’s Perspective on the DOL’s Consumer Protection Proposal

A version of this post originally appeared on Employee Benefit News  

After years of discussion, the Department of Labor has finally proposed a new rule altering the long-standing “fiduciary standard”. Controversial and contested from its initial discussions in 2010, these new regulations have been framed as a way to help the middle class avoid excessive fees and poor advice from financial professionals who do not already serve as a fiduciaries. 

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