Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary for employee benefits security in the U.S. Department of Labor — the agency in charge of crafting the Labor Department fiduciary rule — has been named the winner of the 2016 Frankel Fiduciary Prize.
The prize was established in 2013 by the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard to acknowledge individuals who have made significant contributions to the preservation and advancement of fiduciary principles in public life. It is named for Professor Tamar Frankel of the Boston University School of Law.
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The McLean-based institute itself is a nonprofit formed in 2011 "to benefit investors and society through research, education and advocacy of the fiduciary standard's importance to investors, capital markets and the economy." It seeks to help advisors who are not fiduciaries to become fiduciaries, and to guide existing fiduciaries to best practices.
According to the institute, a fiduciary has six duties: Serve the client's best interest; act in utmost good faith; act prudently, with the care, skill and judgment of a professional; avoid conflicts of interest; disclose all material facts; and control investment expenses.
The decision on award recipients is made by a selection committee from nominees submitted by the public. The committee is composed of Brooksley E. Born, retired partner, Arnold & Porter LLP; Deborah A. DeMott, professor at Duke University School of Law; Mercer Bullard, professor the University of Mississippi School of Law; Michael B. Koffler, partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; and Knut A. Rostad, president, Institute for the Fiduciary Standard.
Borzi was nominated for the award by Barbara Roper, Consumer Federation of America, who praised Borzi's "persistence and dedication … when faced with a level of resistance that would have stopped most regulators in their tracks" and by Ron Rhoades, Western Kentucky University, who said in a statement, "I cannot think of another person who has had such a great impact on the retirement security of our fellow Americans, and on the future economic growth of our nation."
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, said of Borzi at an institute dinner in May, "Phyllis Borzi has been trying to get this fiduciary standard for retirement plans adopted with more enthusiasm and more energy, (and) more opposition. She fought it all off and never gave up. And that's why we have it today."
The prize will be awarded in September at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
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