SAN DIEGO – Done with care, retirement plan advisors can pursue 401(k) rollover business without leaving themselves open to any more fiduciary liability than they already assume.

Whether advisors will be allowed to do so under the Department of Labor's expected expansion of the fiduciary standard is the real question. The DOL is pushing for the new standard because it believes workers lose billions of their retirement savings each year because of conflicts of interest created by financial advisors' reliance on commissions.

That dilemma was at the heart of one of the sessions Monday at the National Association of Plan Advisors annual 401(k) conference here, a presentation that comes at a time when rollovers represent a bigger-than-ever money-making opportunity for retirement advisors.