PLANADVISER Recaps Faegre Drinker Webinar on DOL's New Fiduciary Rule

In the article “A DOL Fiduciary Rule and PTE Refresher,” PLANADVISER shared key takeaways from a recent Faegre Drinker webinar in which benefits and executive compensation partners Fred Reish, Joan Neri, Brad Campbell and Joshua Waldbeser and investment management partner Jeffrey Blumberg discussed the Department of Labor (DOL)’s new expanded definition of fiduciary advice.

The publication highlighted the DOL’s new position that all types of guidance and recommendations pertaining to rollovers will be considered fiduciary advice. The attorneys explain in the webinar that whether one is a flat-fee RIA or a commission-based broker/dealer (B/D), the DOL has set it up so that the rollover recommendation itself is almost always going to be a prohibited transaction that requires formal exemption.

Another insight for advisers that the publication shared from the webinar is that a pathway for recommending fiduciary rollovers and being compensated for that advice (and the future relationship) certainly exists; however, there is a lot of work that will go into actually complying with all the practical and documentation requirements of PTE 2020-02—far more than many advisers and firms may realize.