While it’s unclear whether the Trump administration will try—or even be able—to scuttle the implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule for retirement accounts set for April 2017, financial technology providers are steadily unveiling new products aimed at boosting compliance.

Envestnet Inc., a leading provider of technology and services for investment advisors, recently announced new software designed to help advisors using its wealth management and retirement platforms prove they are acting in the best interest of clients, as required by the new rule. The enhancements will help advisors assess clients’ financial situations and goals, develop compliant portfolios, rationalize fees, and meet documentation and disclosure requirements, among other factors.

Envestnet’s goal is to offer advisors a “holistic platform” that integrates every aspect of their process and encourages best practices, says Babu Sivadasan, group president of Envestnet Retirement Solutions, a subsidiary of Envestnet. “The latest DOL regs compliance tools are just another component of what we’ve been delivering to advisors for the past 17 or so years,” he says.

Sivadasan stresses the importance of process in a post-DOL world. “Gone are the days where you can sell a service, disappear and continue to collect revenues,” he says. As long as advisors can document they’re following a “prudent process,” especially with rollovers, “it is not necessary that you have the lowest cost investments all the time,” he says. “Our platform can highlight cost versus value so the clients can choose what is appropriate for them.” Envestnet Retirement Solutions is also continuing to develop its fiduciary outsourcing services.

Elsewhere, eMoney Advisor, a wealth planning software company, plans to roll out features through its new Fiduciary Framework initiative to help advisors gather data, develop goals for clients and re-evaluate their situations, and monitor and archive communications between advisors and clients.

One feature will track what eMoney Advisor refers to as “best interest facts”—client data points including assets, liabilities, income, expenses, risk tolerance, goals and objectives—and provide graphics and analytics to help identify data holes or blind spots that advisors should fix before giving advice or recommendations.

Advisors “lacking this baseline level of information don’t have the clarity to be operating in their [clients’] best interests,” says Matt Schulte, senior vice president of financial planning for eMoney Advisor. Updating client data is also important. “As events change in their lives or as market conditions change,” he says, “that can have a significant impact on what that advice might be or how you might have to react.”

Meanwhile, Riskalyze has also rolled out tools to help advisors document client relationships, identify problems, and meet other requirements under the DOL fiduciary rule.

And there’s more: SEI Advisor Network has teamed with Redtail Technology to develop a DOL compliance tool kit. Cetera Financial Group has announced the launch of iAnalyze, a practice management analytics tool, and will be revamping its platform. And PCS (Professional Capital Services LLC) has introduced a new rollover tool. Other companies that have announced DOL compliance software include RiXtrema, AssetMark and fi360.

While it might be tempting to stock up on tools being marketed for the DOL fiduciary rule, some folks in the industry caution against going on a buying spree. “We do not think advisory firms should be jumping in and purchasing every new piece of technology,” says G.J. King, president of RIA in a Box, a New York City-based technology and services provider that helps investment advisors start RIA firms and provides ongoing monthly compliance assistance.

“We think it’s actually much less about new technology and much more about creating and ensuring compliance processes within your existing technology,” he says. Firms need to make sure they have policies in place to collect and store data because, he says, “there is going to be an intense hunger for organized data.” Customer relationship management (CRM) software is probably the most important technology piece for the DOL rule, he notes, followed by portfolio management reporting software.

“There’s no need to rush to make additional technology purchases right now unless you haven’t been using any technology,” says King. He’d also like to wait and see what other tools will be introduced. And because the DOL hasn’t demanded that advisors gather and document data in a specific way, there’s nothing to indicate that this can’t be solved with existing technology, he says.

When vetting new technology, “challenge the vendor to walk you through and show you how it’s different than what you have today and how it can help you meet the specific DOL requirements,” he says. “Buyer beware on DOL fiduciary solutions,” he adds. “That’s not to say some won’t be valuable, but like robo-advisors, they’re not all created equal.”

King expects broker-dealers to need more help than RIAs in adjusting to the fiduciary rule, especially since many will use the complex best interest contract exemption. Still, both camps must carefully examine their processes to see what technology they really need, he says.

Meanwhile, RIA in a Box isn’t scrambling to market its propriety platform, myRIA Compliance Software, as a DOL system. Instead, it’s spending a lot of time educating its advisor clients to help them determine what technology is relevant to them.

Ditto for eMoney Advisor. “They’re not ready to say, ‘I need this feature or that feature,’” says Schulte, until they determine whether they’re still going to serve the same clients, offer the same services and same product lineup, or expand their businesses.