Tuesday October 25, 2011

From Robin

To all my friends and colleagues, please tell the anti-Wall Streeters to go to CA, TX or FL and pick fruit and vegetables for $150 per day. I'm tired of my tax money going to clean up their mess. They should go south and shut their mouth.

Congrats to all who participated in a Breast Cancer Awareness event. Thanks for fighting to find a cure. Way to go, Donna on Wall Street!

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New Opportunities for Advisors in DOL Retirement Plan Rules by Rich White

Under pressure from Congress and the retirement plan provider industry, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced in September that it will re-propose its rule on the definition of an ERISA fiduciary. In the same announcement, DOL confirmed its commitment to a modified rule and indicated what the final rule will cover. You can read DOL’s press release here:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ebsa/EBSA20111382.htm

The re-proposed rule is expected to be issued in early 2012. It will work with new DOL cost disclosure rules, effective in 2012, to create opportunities for financial advisors. The DOL re-proposal will aim at the same sweet spot in the market as the cost disclosures – 483,000 participant-directed retirement plans holding nearly $3 trillion in assets and covering 72 million participants. In these plans – which include 401(k)s, 403(b)s and SIMPLEs – employees choose their own investments from employer-approved menus.

DOL’s re-proposal will strengthen the “Chinese Wall” that exists under ERISA’s prohibited transaction rule (Section 406) between retirement plan investment advice and investment management services. It will expand your opportunity to deliver objective fee-based advice as a fiduciary to participants, and you also may serve as participants’ advocate by encouraging employers to offer broader, better and more cost-effective plan investment choices. Read more...

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