Is the U.S. fight over fiduciary rule really about the little guy?

[June 16, 2016]  By Mark Miller

CHICAGO, June 16 (Reuters) - - (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants you to believe it is looking out for the little guy in its fight against new government regulation of the retirement investment advice industry.

But that is a facade - as one consumer advocacy group found out when it checked the Chamber’s claims of grassroots support for its battle to stop the U.S. Department of Labor’s new “best interest” standard for retirement advice.

This fight is really about something else - $19 billion in potential lost revenue now controlled by stock brokerage, life insurance and other companies that do not want to make drastic changes in their business models.

That is the amount of money up for grabs, according to Morningstar, in the wake of the new DoL rule. The so-called fiduciary standard requires any adviser working with retirement accounts to avoid conflicts and act in the best interest of clients in the products they recommend.

The final rules were released in April following years of study and input from the financial services industry and others. They are set to be phased in next year.

But opponents of the fiduciary rule continue their resistance. Last week President Barack Obama vetoed legislation approved by Congress in April to overturn the rule. Opponents also are pressing their case in court, filing lawsuits challenging the Labor Department's power to impose the rule and calling it unworkable.

APPLYING SPIN

For public consumption, opponents of the rule spin their campaigns as friendly to small investors, and to small businesses. They have argued that the rule will force the industry to stop offering “advice” to small account holders. But what these retirement savers often receive is not advice at all. It is selling.

A report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors estimated that small investors lose $17 billion annually due to conflicted advice that places them in risky or inappropriate investments by conflicted advisers.

The second argument is that the DoL rule will hurt small business - an especially odd point given that small employers and their workers often are sold on the most expensive, least competitive retirement plans and actually stand to gain from higher professional industry standards.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a key backer of the legislative and court fights, launched a public campaign themed "Fix the Rule.” It purportedly showcases 25 small business people speaking out against the rule.

But the campaign appears to be more AstroTurf than grass roots. Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that is fighting the Chamber on the fiduciary issue, attempted to contact all of the small business owners quoted (skipping those who actually are chamber lobbyists around the country).

One leader of a Chicago nonprofit told Public Citizen he did not have a view on the rule and asked what he needed to do to get himself removed from the website (he has since been removed). One small-business owner told the watchdog group he favors an even tougher rule. Eight people listed actually are officials at local chambers of commerce or lobbyists, according to the group.

All in all, Public Citizen received return phone calls from just four of the people featured on the site who stepped up to "speak out" against the best-interest rule. “I found not one person that could legitimately be described as saying what Chamber is saying,” said Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, who conducted the research for a report the group published on the matter.

A U.S. Chamber spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on Public Citizen's findings. She did reiterate the Chamber’s arguments about the fiduciary rule’s impact on investors and small businesses, adding: “Given that Public Citizen’s Chamber Watch has made it their mission to misinform the public regarding the Chamber’s work, it is no surprise that they continue to mislead on an issue that will negatively impact businesses.”

OFF THE ASTROTURF

It may help to get off the AstroTurf and look at what this fight really is about. A recent Morningstar report assessing winners and losers from the Labor Department rule finds that it will affect $3 trillion of assets held by wealth management clients, and the aforementioned $19 billion of revenue to wealth management firms.

The biggest battleground will be the market for rollovers at the point of workers’ retirement of 401(k) assets to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Any advice from an adviser to do a rollover will have to be demonstrably in the client’s best interest - and Morningstar estimates that $200 billion in IRA rollover money will be affected annually. The report forecasts a massive shift - more than $1 trillion - away from commission to fee-based accounts, robo-adviser and low-cost passive index funds.

The big losers will be life insurance companies peddling expensive variable annuity and fixed-index annuities, and money management firms specializing in actively-managed accounts. Also on the losing end of the stick will be alternative asset managers or products such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and derivatives.

The ongoing rear-guard fight against the rule is especially unfortunate because the need for real, holistic planning services has never been greater - and the new rule offers a massive opportunity for industry players who are able to adapt. Some apparently recognize that, and are quietly preparing for the new fiduciary world.
 

“Just a few months ago, we were hearing from a lot of companies that they were fighting it, and not preparing for it,” said Tricia Rothschild, head of global adviser and wealth management solutions at Morningstar during the company's annual investment conference this week. “But all that energy has shifted in the last two months. The firms we work with are very much focused on what they need to do to meet the new requirements.”

She added: “The large firms can hope and pray, but they need to prepare. If they’re not ready, they will be caught flat-footed.”

(Editing by Matthew Lewis; [e-mail] )( + 1 646 223 7289) (Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] )(For more from Mark Miller, see http://link.reuters.com/qyk97s. Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance. )

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