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It is no secret that rollovers from employer-sponsored plans are one of the greatest sources of assets flowing into retirement accounts, and a leading growth opportunity for advisors.  A study by LIMRA’s Secure Retirement Institute found that IRA rollovers are expected to grow to more than $760 billion annually over the next five years. Moreover, Cerulli’s 2022 […]

Richard L Chen and Issa Hanna from Eversheds Sutherland met with InvestorCOM to discuss the SEC’s Guidance around assessing reasonably available alternatives, the consideration of costs, and whether firms need to document the evaluation of reasonably available alternatives. == Parham Nasseri [PN]: Richard, there is a specific call out in the Staff Bulletin: Standards of […]

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) published a joint Staff Notice (31-363) on August  3, 2023 summarizing their review of firms’ Conflicts of Interest practices as it relates to the Client Focused Reforms. Of the 172 firms the CSA, IIROC and the MFDA reviewed, no deficiencies relating to conflicts […]

Recently, InvestorCOM spoke with industry experts from Oyster Consulting LLC and Davenport & Company LLC to discuss the practical side of the DOL’s retrospective review process that zeros in on the approach firms are taking to meet the requirement. ==   Parham Nasseri [PN]: Ed, what are you seeing in the industry and what is […]

InvestorCOM spoke with Issa Hanna from Eversheds Sutherland, Jim Sommerfield from Wintrust Wealth Management and Richard L Chen to discuss the SEC’s guidance on reasonably available alternatives (RAA), and how firms should assess RAA early in the process of formulating recommendations for products. This is part two of a conversation. For part one, please visit […]

This year’s FINRA Annual Conference, themed ‘Future Focused’, provided a great opportunity for the wealth management community to exchange ideas on today’s most timely compliance and regulatory topics. The conference covered several topics with conversations often revolving back to Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). This article captures some key themes and observations from the conference. […]

Recently, InvestorCOM spoke with Jim Sommerfield from Wintrust Wealth Management, Issa Hanna from Eversheds Sutherland, and Richard L Chen from Richard L Chen PLLC to discuss the SEC’s guidance on reasonably available alternatives for advisors and broker-dealers. — Parham Nasseri [PN]: Let’s start with the SEC’s March 2022 Bulletin around account type recommendations. In this […]

The question of buy versus build is debated in hundreds of wealth management firms across the country every year. While there is merit in building in-house technology solutions across various parts of a business, we believe that when it comes to compliance technology, there is strength in leveraging a commercial solution. We spoke with Rob […]

Since 2020, the wealth industry has been looking for guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the application of Regulation Best Interest’s (Reg BI) Care Obligation and the Reasonably Available Alternatives (RAA) requirement. During this same period, many firms have found the RAA requirement to be a significant area of Reg BI […]

How do you react when faced with market uncertainty or a crisis? Do you capitulate, ride it out, or go on offense? The current state of heightened market volatility coupled with the banking crisis has put many into the “uncertainty” category; some may even feel we are on the brink of a pending crisis. For […]