CFP Board Spars With Annuities Industry Over Fiduciary Regulation
October 8, 2024 by Tracey Longo
Will commission-based registered representatives and insurance agents really begin to turn away middle-income consumers if the professionals are forced to live with a fiduciary standard that requires them to put customers’ best interest before their own?
Jason Berkowitz, a representative of the annuities industry, argued during a nationally broadcast Securities and Exchange Commission panel discussion last week that the answer is yes and that research shows that as many as 56% of professionals will stop working with Main Street investors entirely if a fiduciary standard is forced on them.
Click HERE to read the full story via Financial Advisor
Wink’s Moore on the Market: I’m confused.
Isn’t one of the main reasons that the Fiduciary Rule was proposed because agents get paid commissions (which are purported a conflict of interest)?
But here is a woman, representing CFPs, who comments, “CFPs report compensation that is 10% higher than non -CFPs.”
?!
She goes on to say, “What is restricted [by the standards] are financial advisors’ ability to take advantage of clients.”
Really? I have read about a bunch of fiduciaries that have taken advantage of their clients. There are bad apples in every barrel, my friends.
“Insurance agents and reps who recommend fixed annuities and IRA rollovers claiming they’re providing one-time advice are all currently excluded from SEC and state regulation best interest standards and subject only to state insurance annuities standards, which critics say are far weaker.”
I guess this means that hybrid RIAs aren’t immune…
COMMISSIONS DON’T HAVE TO BE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. An investment advisor would charge me forever on an asset that cannot lose money as a result of the market- isn’t that a conflict?
Good stats for both sides of the argument, here: -sjm
