Media Covers Brad Campbell’s Testimony Before DOL on Investment Advice Proposed Class Exemption
Benefits and executive compensation partner Brad Campbell was quoted by multiple publications, including Investment News, ThinkAdvisor, Financial Advisor, InsuranceNewsNet and Benefits Pro on his recent testimony before the Department of Labor (DOL).
On Sept. 3, Campbell testified in front of the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration during its public hearing regarding a proposed prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) intended to improve investment advice for workers and retirees.
Benefits Pro reports that Campbell argued the PTE should be “significantly modified” to provide strong protections for consumers while providing access to insurance and annuities. The proposed class exemption, he says, is written “to align with securities regulation, but insurance regulation is materially different.”
ThinkAdvisor notes Campbell’s testimony regarding the 1975 regulation applying a five-part test to determine whether an advisor is a fiduciary. He called the guidance on the five-part test “fundamentally flawed,” stating that, while at first it acknowledges that the sale of insurance products “is not fiduciary advice,” the guidance “goes on to create some significant ambiguity in the application of the five-part test, making it impossible to know with clarity where the department thinks the line has been drawn.”
Campbell was testifying on behalf of seven insurance industry organizations: the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting/GAMA International, Committee of Annuity Insurers, Indexed Annuity Leadership Council, Insured Retirement Institute, National Association for Fixed Annuities, National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
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