The president of Naifa, a national association representing insurance professionals, issued a statement Wednesday in support of the Wagner bill. President Rob Smith says the SEC should determine if changes are needed and, if so, it should act before the DOL acts. He also says that Naifa appreciates the need for the SEC to conduct a cost-benefit analysis.

However, Smith asks the SEC not to change the definition of fiduciary in any way that would limit the access to financial advice for middle-market investors.

Members of minority caucuses in Congress sent a letter to DOL Acting Secretary Seth Harris on June 14 asking that the definition of fiduciary not be changed in such a way that makes it impossible for financial advisors to work with investors who have small retirement accounts.

Wagner said before the committee Wednesday that she agrees with these members of Congress in their concerns about rewriting the definition of fiduciary. Her bill is designed to address these concerns and protect investors from changes in the rules that would ultimately harm them, she says.

“I think it is important to remember what is at stake here,” she told the committee. “American families invest trillions of dollars in IRAs and through mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other types of investments. Federal regulators must not lose focus on the impact all of these rules could have on retail investors, and the Retail Investor Protection Act will ensure that they tread carefully.”

The Wagner bill, among other things, requires that the SEC determine if investors would be harmed by any change in the definition of fiduciary before it acts.

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