Is Trump a threat to the fiduciary rule?
The financial services industry has spent months preparing for April 10
Jan 23, 2017 1:08 p.m. ET | by Robert Powell | MarketWatch
While the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule is scheduled to take effect April 10, some experts predict that President Trump will somehow, someway put the kibosh on the rule that requires financial advisers to act in their client’s best interest, adhering to a fiduciary standard with respect to retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s.
Should that happen, and it wouldn’t be easy to eliminate it or roll it back, advisers who already adhere to such a standard—by virtue of being a registered investment adviser (RIA) or an investment adviser representative (IAR)—may be able to reclaim a competitive advantage in the marketplace, strengthening their argument that they act in their client’s best interest with respect to retirement as well as taxable accounts.
Other advisers, registered representatives and insurance agents, meanwhile, will only be able to claim that they are giving their client suitable advice, a much lower standard.
