April 29, 2012

Giving due diligence its due

By Blaine F. Aikin

Financial advisers to retirement plans need to recalibrate their thinking about Section 408(b)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Rather than focusing on what it means for their own disclosure obligations, they need to remember that the law is truly about the ...

April 1, 2012

Fiduciary standard doesn't raise costs: Study

A new study out of Texas Tech University casts significant doubt on brokerage industry claims that the fiduciary standard leads to higher costs and fewer product choices for investors. Ever since the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act empowered the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the ...

March 4, 2012

Leveraging retirement fee disclosure rules

By Blaine F. Aikin

After more than four years in the making, the Labor Department's “new” Section 408(b)(2) disclosure rule is finally set to take effect July 1. Investment advisers, record keepers and just about every other financial services provider you can think of will be required to ...

February 5, 2012

Why advisers aren't true professionals

Financial advisers can learn a valuable lesson from accountants about professionalism and adherence to a fiduciary standard. Recently, in preparation for a talk at the annual conference of the personal-financial-planning segment of the American Institute of Certified Public...

January 8, 2012

Using employer stock in qualified plans

In the best of times, both retirement plan participants and sponsors can benefit from the inclusion of employer stock in a company's participant-directed retirement plan. Employees share in the success of their company by using a convenient, tax-advantaged savings apparatus,...

November 27, 2011

High standards are needed for those we trust

By Blane F. Aikin

Trusting people carries risks. Finding better ways to mitigate and manage these risks is a continuing challenge for individuals, institutions and society at large. Sometimes, however, the best learning opportunities arise when trust breaks down

October 30, 2011

New concerns for retirement plan providers

By Blaine F. Aikin

For providers of financial services to Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 plans, fees are a double-edged sword

October 2, 2011

Proxy voting lets fiduciaries use power

Proxy voting is one of the most powerful but underutilized tools that fiduciaries have to serve the best interests of investors. Through their voting power, shareholders, especially institutional shareholders, have the ability to influence directly how the companies they own are managed....

September 4, 2011

Fiduciary foes: Don't count your chickens

By Blaine F. Aikin

When Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee warned the Securities and Exchange Commission to halt the process of fiduciary rule making, it was a pretty blatant signal that the stage has been set for a courtroom showdown

August 7, 2011

Taking their cue from Congress

By Blaine F. Aikin

I think I found the model for how opponents of the fiduciary standard hope to render the standard meaningless after financial regulatory reform