Live blog from day two of the fi360 Conference

Day two of the conference is underway. The day kicks off with Mercer Bullard speaking on the legislative and regulatory future of the fiduciary standard of care followed by another full day of breakout sessions. Just like yesterday, we'll be live blogging throughout the day, posting some of the best quotes as updates to this post. If you are on Twitter, you also can follow the action from us @Fiduciary360 as well as from other live attendees. Search for the hashtag #fi360_2010 to get the latest updates.

Update 4:00 p.m.: And that's it for the 2010 fi360 Conference. Thanks for following us and thanks to all the speakers for their contributions and the 450 attendees that made this our biggest conference yet. The conference was recorded, so all AIF and AIFA designees can look forward to seeing those recordings made available in the portal within the next few weeks. 

Just a reminder, we announced the other day that the 2011 fi360 Conference will be held in San Antonio on May 4-6. Look for online registration to open soon. Email resources@fi360.com if you are interested in being a speaker and we'll let you know when we have proposal forms available.

Update 4:00 p.m.: Fred Reish just wrapped up his third session here, this time speaking on the changing face of 401(k) plans. He's going over some of the DOL and Treasury measures coming out soon. Says TDFs are no longer special and need to be treated the same as other investments, meaning they should be monitored and replaced, as necessary. 

Reish: "The big question is, 'can we, over forty years, fund a twenty year, full time pre-paid vacation?'"

Update 3:40 p.m.: Chip Hunt's topic is rescuing strategies for defined benefit plans. Going over case studies on how the 2008 credit crisis left most DB plans significantly underfunded and how advisors can structure an investment strategy to help preserve them for their participants.

Update 3:20 p.m.: Greg Porteous discussing ETFs at his session. Discussing how increased focus by the media, lawmakers and regulators on fee transparency make ETFs a good solution for 401(k) plans, especially for small businesses who value low cost.

Update 3:10 p.m.: The last breakout of the 2010 fi360 Conference is underway. David Witz is on stage talking about being a qualified advisor. He says it is harder to become an expert than to be one and that it's near impossible to be an expert in all areas of retirement planning, so most will focus on specific areas and gain the experience to become fully proficient in one area. Takes ten years to become an expert.

Click the link below to read all previous updates from today.

Update 2:26 p.m.: Eric Paley and Christian Hancey are giving a behind the scenes look at the RFP process. Say one of the most important things when answering an RFP is to do your due diligence and know your client. If you make mistakes such as not knowing the type of plan or mispelling last names, the client hates it and remembers it.

Christian Hancey: "The incumbent investment fiduciary only retains their position about 10% of the time when an RFP has been issued."

Eric Paley: "You can get more information once you are sitting in a finalist meeting and ask the potential client questions. Use their answers to showcase your experience." Also, bring their relationship manager to the meeting, more important than bringing the president.

Update 2:10 p.m.: We're in the home stretch now, just two more sets of breakouts this afternoon and that's it for the 2010 Conference. Gene Maloney is on stage to discuss due diligence and procedural prudence under ERISA.

Gene Maloney: "Brokerage relationships are becoming more fiduciary in nature." 

He then proceeded to show a video that started with interviews taken from a Pittsburgh Steelers parking lot tail gate, asking the question, "What is a fiduciary?" Most people assumed it was an insult. Video goes on to feature a speaker talking about the importance of procedural prudence and checklists.

Gene Maloney: "Under ERISA, prudence is the overarching standard of care."

Update 12:00 p.m.: Scott Reed speaking to a jam-packed room on fiduciary assessments. Says too many plans are missing key fiduciary obligations because they are being sold products. Fiduciary assessments are the solution and Congress is making them a big deal. Assessments are going to be required more often, gain more widespread recognition, and the market for these assessments is going to be huge. The resulting fee reduction resulting from an assessment often can pay for the cost of assessment.

Update 11:40 a.m.: Tom Kmak of Fiduciary Benchmarks is going over his Retirement Readiness Index. Believes benchmarks for retirement readiness can be made simple, transparent and practical. Participants can be empowered with more, personalized information and their readiness improves. Recordkeeping systems should have fields to capture retirement goals and keep the focus on them.

Update 11:20 a.m.: Bob Veres just complimented the audience here at the fi360 Conference as being the only place with this kind of mix of financial planners, 401(k) advisors and procedural fiduciaries. Said, we're "geeky for our willingness to delve into the details of fiduciary practices."

Bob just announced the release of a new white paper detailing the future of the financial planning profession, which he said will be available on his website, possibly tomorrow. He's summarizing the paper here, saying the next ten years will see the professionalization of financial planning, with practice management models becoming significantly more proficient.

Update 10:10 a.m.: Kevin Mahoney and Ward Mayer are presenting on delivering a prudent process from a wirehouse, an appropriate topic to follow up on Mercer Bullard's morning session. They are relating the difficulties that a wirehouse advisor wanting to apply fiduciary standards to their practice can face, but how processes can be applied to overcome this. Saying fiduciary reform legislation will help level the playing field for them in terms of marketing.

"The highest responsibility comes from our own morals and ethics. If you set those high, the rest will fill in from there."

Update 9:50 a.m.: The panel on 401(k) participant advice is very popular. Chad Griffeth, Scott Holsopple, Mike DiCenso and Jason Roberts are speaking to a packed house.

Jason Roberts: "The reason we're talking about this is because this is one of the best risk-shifting mechanisms available to advisors."

Update 9:30 a.m.: Fred Reish and Ron Surz are starting off the breakout sessions today with a session on target date funds. Fred's covering the legal trends and Ron covering best practices in TDF investing.

Fred: "Target date funds are the legitimate children of 401(k) plans." With their popularity, now comes the scrutiny because it appears many don't understand them and they aren't being communicated effectively.

Update 9:00 a.m.: In our general session this morning, Mercer Bullard went through all the various sources of fiduciary duty from the constitutional level down to the organizational and individual levels. Says the fiduciary standards that organizations and individuals place on themselves are very real legally, but haven't been enforced correctly.

There is a federalization trend in all law, and fiduciary law is heading down that path as well. He sees four paths for fiduciary law: federal rulemaking, SEC rulemaking, FINRA rulemaking and regulation from the financial planning community. Says the first three are all going to happen, and it will result in a lower, "harmonized" standard to accommodate the activities of brokers. The upside to this will be a greater space for those advisors who apply higher standards on themselves. While the community individually is motivated with good intentions for a high standard, we're just not as good at agreeing on what we want and lobbying it effectively.