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What’s Really Holding Firms Back from Capturing the Convergence Opportunity

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As retirement assets continue to grow and financial planning becomes more complex, the traditional separation between retirement advice and wealth management is fading. Advisors are increasingly expected to guide clients across both domains – from workplace retirement plans to long-term personal wealth strategies. This shift has given rise to what many now describe as the [...] Read More

The Biden Era Retirement Security Rule Is Gone. PTE 2020-02 Still Defines the Compliance Reality.

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Recent headlines declaring the death of the Biden-era Retirement Security rule have left many wealth and retirement professionals asking the same question: What actually changed? The answer is simpler than the headlines suggest. A federal judge has formally vacated the Department of Labor’s 2024 Retirement Security Rule — the Biden administration’s attempt to expand fiduciary […]

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Why Rollovers Are the Bridge Between Retirement and Wealth Advice

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One of the most significant structural shifts happening in the wealth industry today is the convergence of retirement planning and wealth management. For decades, these two domains operated independently. Retirement advisors focused on workplace plans, while wealth advisors focused on personal portfolios and long-term financial planning. But as retirement assets grow and client expectations evolve, [...] Read More

The Convergence Era Is Already Here – But Most Firms Are Only Partway There

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For decades, wealth management and retirement planning evolved along parallel tracks. Retirement plan advisors focused on plan design, fiduciary oversight, and participant education. Wealth advisors focused on portfolio construction, financial planning, and long-term client relationships. Today, that separation is dissolving. The industry is entering what many are calling the Convergence Era — a structural shift [...] Read More

Rollovers – Increasing Advisor Participation

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The Rollover Landscape Rollovers represent the single largest organic growth opportunity in the wealth industry now and for decades to come.  Demographic trends, investors' desire to consolidate assets and wealth firms' growing appetite to pursue rollovers are driving this opportunity, estimated to represent $1T in asset movement in 2025.1 However, digging into this data highlights [...] Read More

The Battle For Rollovers Intensifies As Wealth And Retirement Converge

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By Tracey Longo | This article first appeared in the Financial Advisor magazine   The race to capture rollover assets is accelerating as trillions of dollars move from workplace retirement plans into managed accounts, but the lure of these assets is sometimes offset by the accompanying pitfalls of regulatory compliance. While rollovers have always been [...] Read More

What the CFR Conversation Has Made Clear: Execution Is Now the Test

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The conversation around the Client Focus Reforms has moved decisively beyond interpretation. It is abundantly clear that there is little uncertainty about regulatory intent; instead, there is a growing recognition that the real challenge lies in execution — how firms operationalize the requirements in a way that is consistent, defensible, and sustainable over time. Experts [...] Read More

Product Pulse: Meet The New Peer Compare

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A Smarter Way to Deliver Best-Interest Recommendations Peer Compare has entered its next chapter — marking a major evolution in how advisors deliver best-interest product recommendations at scale. This latest release is designed to help firms strengthen trust, improve consistency, and streamline oversight, all while giving advisors a faster, more intuitive way to engage investors. […]

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FINRA’s Annuity Fines: The Reg BI Signal Firms Can’t Ignore

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For the first time, FINRA put Annuities squarely in the regulatory spotlight. “Many of the recent FINRA enforcement actions involving sales-practice and supervisory failures have centered on variable annuities and exchange recommendations—a reflection of the increased scrutiny outlined in FINRA’s 2025 Oversight Report.” FINRA  In its 2025 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, FINRA elevated annuities to a standalone focus area, sending [...] Read More

Why PTE 2020-02 Remains in Effect

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There has been confusion around the status of PTE 2020-02 due to the existence of two versions issued under different administrations. However, when the regulatory mechanics are properly understood, the conclusion is clear: PTE 2020-02 will remain in effect and required for rollover recommendations.  Two Versions of PTE 2020-02  Original PTE 2020-02 (Trump Administration, 2020): This exemption established the […]

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