Advisers may get OK on IRA advice

Guidelines that would allow investment advisers to give direct advice regarding individual retirement plans will soon be released, a Department of Labor official said today. The goal of is “to make advice as widely available as possible,” in connection with retirement savings plans, Labor assistant secretary Brad Campbell said today at the Savings and Retirement Conference in Washington sponsored by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association of New York and Washington. The DOL is currently studying whether a computer model for advice can be adapted to individual retirement accounts, Mr. Campbell said. Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, direct investment advice can be given for 401(k) plans, but only if it is based on an unbiased computer model. The agency was charged under the law with studying whether such a model could be used for IRAs. Computer models are harder to use for individual retirement accounts, Mr. Campbell said, because IRAs can contain a much broader range of investments than 401(k) plans normally hold. The DOL has held hearings on whether the model could work for IRAs. “This administration has, from the very beginning… fully supported increased access to professional investment advice,” Mr. Campbell said.