SAN DIEGO – The National Association of Plan Advisors made something really clear Sunday: it has always embraced and will continue to support any government regulation that puts plan participants' best interests first. Period.

That, however, doesn't mean NAPA is whole-heartedly supporting the Department of Labor's efforts to push forward with plans to impose the fiduciary standard on broker-dealers and anyone else in the financial services industry hoping to make money in the retirement plan business.

The fiduciary standard has long applied to retirement plan advisors, meaning they must put their clients' interests ahead of their own. Broker-dealers, on the other hand, are held to a lower standard called "suitability." Critics say brokers who work on commissions often steer clients to the mutual funds or other investments that pay them the highest fees. "Conflicted" advice, according to a White House memo leaked last month, is costing retirement savers more than $6 billion a year.