401(k) Specialist Issue 1 - 2015 - 12

THE FIDUCIARY FILE
high level of expertise and the perception
among many lawmakers is that it is an arcane
issue among the general population.
Opposition from Democrats to the DOL's
proposal largely melted away when the
administration backed it, but then lobbyists
got involved again. "
5 Critically Important Areas
on the Fiduciary Front:
TDAI's Skip Schweiss
SKIP SCHWEISS IS ANIMATED (no, really). The usually uber-calm and even-keeled head
of retirement plan services-as well as managing director of advisor advocacy and industry
affairs-for TD Ameritrade Institutional was discussing the Supreme Court's Tibble v. Edison
decision, as well as the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule and its impact on 401(k)s. His
enthusiasm and excitement for the opportunities they afford fiduciary advisors was palpable,
and he offered up the following five observations.
1) REGULATION " All the talk is with the SEC, but all the action is with the Department of
Labor. Something will happen before the president's second term is up with the DOL's proposal.
We have the comment period and then the new proposal, so I expect it to be later in 2015 or
certainly early 2016. Of course, the best time for the president would be January 2017. "
2) LEGISLATION " Another point is that from a legislative standpoint, the fiduciary issue
is way down on the list. Legislators are much more concerned with the nuclear deal with
Iran, the budget, the deficit, jobs, etc. They have bigger fish to fry. They also don't have a
12 INAUGURAL 2015 | 401kSpecialistmag.com
3) ADVISORS " There is a perception
among some advisors that smaller plans
are sold and not advised. We hear from
businesses that say an advisor sold them
a plan, installed the plan and that was five
years ago and they haven't heard from
them since. This really goes to the heart of
the matter; they better get much better at
monitoring. The problem is that there are
maybe 600,000 401(k) plans and 500,000 of
them have never heard of Tibble v. Edison
International. This is such an opportunity
for true fiduciary advisors to positon themselves
as indispensable. "
4) LIFETIME INCOME " This is really the
next big thing in the 401(k) space. There
are proposals being talked about to require
401(k) providers to include retirement
income estimates in their statements,
much like with Social Security statements.
The participant will have a lot of money,
but they only get one chance to get it right
when converting to income. Auto-enrollment
is good, and participation rates are
rising, but what about those without access
to a plan? How do we get those employees
involved in saving? This is an opportunity
that is screaming for attention; it cries out
for action from advisors. "
5) GET INVOLVED " It's perfect for fiduciary
advisors; they need to get into this
space. Especially with all these high-fee
plans, the landscape is shifting and shifting
fast and they have the best opportunity to
take advantage. "

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401(k) Specialist Issue 1 - 2015

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