Brokers Change Their Game Plan

Even without a fiduciary rule, many have adopted new pricing models.

- Sandra Block

IN KEEPING WITH THE TRUMP administration’s deregulatory agenda, the president has issued an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Labor to review the fiduciary rule for brokers who offer financial advice to investors with retirement accounts. The order will likely delay the rule’s effective date of April 10 and could lead to its demise. But no matter what happens in Washington, the financial services industry has made changes that are here to stay.

Years in the making, the fiduciary rule was developed by the DOL to address concerns that some securities brokers encouraged investors to roll their 401(k) plans into IRAs composed of high-cost or inappropriate investments. The fiduciary standard requires financial professionals to put their clients’ interests above their own. Securities brokers currently adhere to a less stringent standard, called the suitability rule. Investments they recommend must be suitable given your age and risk tolerance, but they don’t have to be the lowest-cost alternative.