Advisors must comply with the impartial conduct standards when recommending IRA rollovers from ERISA plans, when recommending a change from a commission-based to a fee-based arrangement, when recommending the transfer of an IRA/custodian, and when providing all other advice that results in third-party payments to a firm or an advisor, noted Roberts.
Reish clarified another point. “People have been combining the conflict of interest rules and the fiduciary standard of care and mushing them together and just calling it the ‘fiduciary rule,’” he said. “It’s more complicated than that.” As he sees it, the DOL has leadership on the standard of care and the SEC has leadership on conflicts of interest. He expects them to collaborate and publish proposed changes later this year.