Voya Financial, one of the biggest providers of retirement plans, has filed comments on the proposed fiduciary rule from the Department of Labor—and those comments are not full of praise.
"While we appreciate and agree with the DOL's interest in advancing the well-being of worker and retiree savings, we're concerned that the proposal, as it stands, would lead to unintended results that would limit consumer access to products, services and information," Charles Nelson, CEO of Retirement at Voya Financial, said in a statement.
The DOL's proposal not only redefines "fiduciary," it also would reclassify some of the communications from financial firms as investment advice. Voya takes issue with that, saying in a statement that "[s]uch a designation would likely limit or dramatically change valuable educational content because of the liability associated with fiduciary status."
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"We support solutions that would facilitate important financial discussions and education materials," Nelson continued. "The combination of burdens and potential penalties resulting from inadvertent fiduciary status could have a chilling effect on advancing retirement readiness. This would lead to a decrease in the level of investment towards retirement education information, a decline in professional assistance being offered and fewer retirement products and services available to consumers."
The firm has said that the proposed restrictions on financial education will make it harder and more expensive for individuals looking for help with their retirement savings to find that help, and it also said that some of the proposal's provisions are too broad. In addition to addressing other portions of the proposed rule it found unsatisfactory, it said it had offered in its comments to the DOL "[i]nsights into why the current regulations related to valuation of plan assets have worked well for plans and participants over the years and do not need to change."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already weighed in heavily against the DOL's proposed rule, but opposition is far from universal. The Financial Planning Coalition, made up of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board), the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), praised it last month.
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