The U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule is finally here … sort of. The rule stipulates that broker-dealers and dually registered advisors who oversee retirement plan accounts must put the best interests of their clients first, and, yes, it officially went into effect on June 9. Yet the rule continues to be scrutinized by Republicans in Congress, so it’s not exactly home free yet.

Nonetheless, years of haggling over the rule has brought a sea change within the brokerage industry as many brokerages and advisors have taken steps to comply with the spirit of the rule, and it’s likely there’s no turning back to the good ol’ days, regardless of the ultimate fate of the rule.

Managed account sponsors are also feeling pressure from the DOL rule. According to the financial services research firm Cerulli Associates, more than 40% of sponsors say they plan to conform with the rule regardless of whether it’s fully implemented.

“Several leaders of managed account firms are taking the long view when examining the DOL rule, noting that the trend toward fiduciary has taken a secular hold on the industry and will continue to grow with or without the rule,” said Tom O’Shea, associate director at Cerulli, writing in a recent report entitled “DOL Rule Influencing Discretion: Many U.S. Sponsors Pushing Advisors to Use Home-Office Portfolios.”

In that report, O’Shea said the DOL rule shines a light on the risk associated with poor investment outcomes, causing many managed account sponsors to push advisors to use home-office portfolios because they believe a significant proportion of advisors manage client accounts that underperform similar home-office-constructed portfolios.

“The majority of advisors, including small practices in particular, don’t always have the time or skills to perform the due diligence required to construct the best portfolios possible for clients,” O’Shea said. “Under the rule, it is risky for firms to knowingly allow subpar advisors to manage underperforming portfolios for clients when a better performing portfolio with a similar risk level is available from the home office. Most of the executives interviewed by Cerulli believe that home-office discretion will increase as underperforming advisors are identified and gently coaxed into portfolios created by the headquarters consulting group.”

In its report, Cerulli said the outsourced chief investment officer model that’s prevalent in the institutional space is spreading as sponsors partner with third parties to share the fiduciary responsibility of constructing portfolios. Cerulli also noted that asset managers believe that third-party discretion will increase while client and advisor discretion will decrease during the next three years.

Because of the DOL rule, some managed account sponsors are enacting new protocols for fees and pricing schedules, reducing the amount of discretion given to advisors, boosting their fiduciary oversight of turnkey asset management providers, narrowing the products available to advisors and increasing their use of strategists.

But not all managed account sponsors are leaping headfirst into the DOL rule era. Cerulli’s research found that 37% of managed account firms have slowed down their implementation to see if the rule will be rescinded in whole or in part. Cerulli said that independent broker-dealers seem most inclined to slow implementation in the hope the rule will be rescinded.