Chicago-based investment researcher and manager Morningstar Inc. and the Arlington, Virginia-based American Retirement Association have announced that they will partner in developing a program “that sets a new standard in fiduciary education and best practices.”
The IRA Fiduciary Adviser education program is “designed to prepare advisers for a continuously shifting regulatory environment,” according to Brian Graff, CEO of American Retirement Association, who pointed out that while there’s already considerable industry focus on the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, “the SEC and FINRA have both already signaled their intent to introduce additional fiduciary regulations.”
The collaborative program is intended to anticipate further changes in the fiduciary landscape.
The American Retirement Association's IRA Fiduciary Adviser education modules will be integrated with Morningstar’s advisor workstation and provide tracking and reporting mechanisms to support broker-dealer and registered investment advisor compliance requirements. Incorporated in the program are enterprise tools created by Morningstar in response to the Labor Department fiduciary rule.
Among the Morningstar solutions integrated into the modules, according to Jeff Schwantz, Morningstar’s head of advisor and wealth management solutions, North America, are enhanced investment research coverage, analytic tools, and new data sources that are integrated with fiduciary best practices.
ARA is made up of four retirement industry associations: the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries, the National Association of Plan Advisors, and the National Tax-deferred Savings Association. It has previously commented on the Labor Department fiduciary rule, suggesting some changes it said were necessary to ensure that application of the rule did work in the best interest of retirement plan participants.
Among the changes it suggested were a new “level compensation to level compensation” exemption, to avoid shutting out the use of a financial advisor on a retirement plan rollover account if there is any increase in compensation upon rollover of an employer-sponsored account to an IRA, and additional flexibility for advisors to work with small businesses on retirement plans.
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