By Jeffrey M. Haber What is the fate of the fiduciary rule under the Trump Administration? In May of last year, this Blog wrote about the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, which requires financial advisors to put their clients’ interests first when making investment recommendations for retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs. The rule, designed to prevent conflicts of interest, has strong support from the Obama administration and investor advocates who argue that in

By Jeffrey M. Haber On November 4, 2016, a judge sitting in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) fiduciary duty rules that were adopted to curtail conflicts of interest by financial advisors providing investment recommendations for retirement accounts. In a 92-page ruling, Judge Randolph Moss rejected arguments that the new rules would have “catastrophic consequences” for the fixed indexed annuities industry,

What does the Labor Department fiduciary standard mean for financial advisors? After telegraphing its punch for almost 6 years, the Department of Labor recently announced the highly anticipated fiduciary standard regulation that will require financial advisors who provide investment recommendations for retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, to meet a fiduciary standard. These advisors are now required to put their clients' interests before their own, rather than adhe