For those who think the new fiduciary rule is a watered-down compromise of what could have been, Blaine Aikin is having none of it.
While the outspoken fiduciary rule supporter is too busy to celebrate Wednesday’s announcement by Department of Labor, he’s happy with the outcome nonetheless.
“I’m at our annual national conference on the west coast,” said Aikin, CEO of fi360 and CFP Board’s 2016 chair-elect. “The timing is ideal.”
Located in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania suburb of Bridgeville, fi360 sponsors the popular Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA) designation programs.
“In a nutshell, I think the DOL proved true to their word,” he explained, the first of many times he employed the phrase during the interview. “They certainly made many practical improvements that removed impediments to various business models being able to deal with the rule more effectively.”
As for unexpected surprises and new items not included in past versions of the rule, Aikin thought they “might have gone a little further than I thought they would in terms of exemptions,” and specifically best interest contract (BIC) exemptions, “but nevertheless, I think they did stay true to their word.”
“We will have to rely fairly heavily on enforcement to ensure this does change behaviors, but I think the industry is already in motion, so I think the dye in cast in an important positive direction to see more fiduciary conduct and raise the reputation of financial services as a whole,” he concluded. “They did stay true to fundamental fiduciary principles.”
Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D – MA) formally revealed the Department of Labor’s final fiduciary rule Wednesday morning, and the White House released its major provisions in the overnight hours.
They include a lengthy description of the aforementioned BIC exemptions and exclude education from the definition of investment advice (with certain provisions).
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
