DOL fiduciary rule: 5th Circuit decision could be big win for indexed annuities
March 22, 2018 by Greg Iacurci
Indexed annuities — and the intermediaries that sell them — appear to be the biggest benefactors of an appellate court’s decision last week to vacate the Department of Labor fiduciary rule.
While observers are divided on the ruling’s implications, a consensus seems to be growing that the fiduciary rule would be erased nationwide if the DOL doesn’t appeal — a potential outcome given the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda.
Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews; registration required.
Article excerpt:
“It is a big win for fixed indexed annuities and other non-securities products,” said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America.
“We could go back to a situation where different products sold within the same [types of] retirement accounts could be subject to different standards — indexed annuities, for example, being right at the top of the list,” Ms. Roper said. “And that’s a concern for us.”
For some context regarding what could be at stake, consider that roughly 60% — more than $7.5 billion — of indexed-annuity sales in the third quarter last year were sold into a qualified account, the type covered by the DOL fiduciary rule, according to Wink Inc., a market research firm.
