A blog post last week from Insurance and Financial Advisor reprinted a letter from Thomas Currey, the president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), in which he warned their members of the danger financial regulatory reform posed to their way of business if adoption of a fiduciary standard is included. Unfortunately, it seems that their push for a study of the issue will make it into Dodd's Senate reform bill when it is released as soon as today. The letter is worth reading anyways though for the revealing look at how the anti-fiduciary message is being crafted as a story of unmanageable expectations and frivolous lawsuits. The claims that advisors would have to select from the entire universe of options and that results, not process, determine fiduciary appropriateness certainly tell a scary story of how a fiduciary standard would unfairly target well meaning advisors who are only trying to do what's best. However, it's a false one as these claims simply don't mesh with the legal history established in the enforcement of a fiduciary standard under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Now on to the rest of the best links from the last week.
In the news/commentary:
- Senator Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., proposed a new amendment imposing a fiduciary standard, but with a financial-planning oversight board [InvestmentNews]
- DOL's participant advice rules aim to separate advice from sales [InvestmentNews]
- Main stream newspaper coverage of the fiduciary standard debate! [Washington Post]
- Thanks for nothing, Senate [MarketWatch]
- Great article on the professionalization of investment advice [RIABiz]
From the organizations/associations/government/academia:
- The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) responds to last week's New York Times article on the fiduciary standard [NAIFA]
- CFP Board introduces new financial plan development course to their requirements for certification [CFP Board of Standards]
- What's the difference between 3(21) and 3(38) fiduciaries? [fi360]
From the blogs:
- NAIFA warns its members that they may have put their clients' interests first [IFA Webnews]
- "Status quo isn't going work" for participant advice under the DOL rules [WSJ Financial Adviser Blog]
- Carl Richards asks investors to confront their overconfidence [NYT Bucks Blog]
- Which is better, 3(21) ERISA fiduciaries, or 3(38)? [Pozek on Pension]
Have a link we missed? Leave them in the comments section or email us at blog@fi360.com. For more of the best links during the week, make sure you follow us on Twitter.
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