The Department of Labor will be focusing on fiduciary rule compliance assistance rather than enforcement through the start of 2018 and possibly beyond, DOL assistant secretary Tim Hauser said Tuesday.
“Our primary effort is not going to be finding people to sue. Right now we are trying to get people to tell us what their issues and concerns are,” said Hauser, who was one of DOL’s top leaders in developing the regulations for the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The agency won’t be setting rates financial advisors can charge pension plan participants for services, he added.
Speaking to a fiduciary rule conference for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) in Washington, D.C., he said the rule is not an impediment to prosperity for financial firms.
However, ICI President and CEO Paul Stevens said it could hurt the prosperity of retirement savers.
Stevens claimed the rule could cost savers billions if it deprives them of the advice they need, while the White House has contended the lack of a best-interest standard for pension plan advisors also could cost retail investors billions.
Stevens called the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule a poorly thought-out “grand experiment.”
“We have lingering questions about how the rule will affect fund companies’ educational offerings and ability to serve investors through call centers and websites,” Stevens said.
At the same time, he urged his members to approach the rule as honestly and objectively as possible.
“We will do our part to assist in this process. Frankly, we all owe America’s retirement savers nothing less,” he said.