“Perhaps the continued confusion can be expected given that the term ‘best interest’ is not defined in Reg BI and the word ‘fiduciary’ is not used in defining the new standard. It makes it harder to understand.”
Tag "Barbara Roper"
“Surveys show about half of investors don’t know how much they’re paying for advice, and about one in six think they pay nothing.”
“…the best efforts of those focused on product, not investors, are ultimately doomed to failure.”
For that to work, however, it’s not enough to change the titles brokers use – to make them call their sales representatives “salespeople” and call their services “sales recommendations” – you’d also have to completely change the way they market themselves so that their marketing messages are consistent with their regulatory status.
In the final analysis, we may get the best of both worlds, a reduced regulatory compliance burden with a market that imposes the fiduciary standard.
Any regulation that requires 10 pages of explanation for every page of regulation is bound to have something good, something not-quite-good-enough, and something not-so-good.
FiduciaryNews.com Trending Topics for ERISA Plan Sponsors: Week Ending 3/2/18
The Undiscovered Fiduciary, SEC goes on safari, and barber investing.