The dinner at The City Tavern in the Historic District of Philadelphia was excellent, but that’s all I can tell you.
Actually, I was allowed to report on the prepared remarks, and you can read them here: “Bogle: ‘New Fiduciary Rule is Just the Beginning’,” (FiduciaryNews.com, May 24, 2016). It was the juicy tidbits during dinner, though, that provided the evening’s most interesting fare.
But I can’t tell you about that.
I can’t tell you about the chance meeting with Meryl Streep.
I can’t tell you about the insightful question I asked. I can’t tell you the compelling answer.
That’s the dilemma of “off the record.” “Off the record” is great for journalists. We get to learn a lot about how the sausage is made. “Off the record” is not so great for the reader. It’s probably one of the reasons so many people hate reporters.
So, here’s what I can tell you. Phyllis Borzi answered the question the next day on the record in front of a live (and live-stream) audience. In case you missed it, the story starts here…
Every Monday I send out a newsletter to all FiduciaryNews.com subscribers highlighting the “Trending Topics” found in the previous week’s news stories. Based on a couple of articles, this week I posed the question “Is this the end of the Fiduciary Era?” You’d be surprised who read it. I know I was.
The newsletter generated several emails of concern.
Apparently, folks didn’t like the idea some of the targets of the DOL’s new fiduciary rule might have uncovered a way to comply with the letter of the rule while ignoring the spirit of the rule. (If you don’t think this is plausible, remember the DOL’s 2012 Fee Disclosure Rule where some service providers “complied” with the Rule by “disclosing” their fee via a printed URL somewhere on page 54 of a 99-page document.)
The truth is, there have been articles reporting this regarding the fiduciary rule.
On the record, before an assembly of fiduciary advocates on the occasion of the launch of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard’s “Campaign for Investors,” Phyllis Borzi answered the obvious question. Yes, the DOL is aware of this possible strategy among certain players of the industry.
She said firms had two teams. The first sought ways to defeat the rule. The second was tasked with the job of discovering the best way to “comply” (in the 2012 Fee Disclosure manner) with the rule.
Rest assured, the DOL is on it.
There, you didn’t miss anything.
Except a superb Early American dinner.
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Christopher Carosa
Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).
