Last week’s excellent LIMRA/LOMA conference in Boston provided interesting perspective on the state of the industry in the wake of the announcement of the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule.

You can sense that many people are moving through the stages of grief with respect to the impact the rules may have on their businesses.  At some point, the process ends predictably with “acceptance.”

To summarize broadly, in a suitability context, pure transactions are safer for product sellers.  Giving advice in a transaction means being a fiduciary.  Being a fiduciary means acting in the best interest of the client.

Although the consequences of the rules will take time to play out, in the new environment is it really possible to think that once a fiduciary, one can continue to use partial (incomplete) planning processes to sell products?

In order to provide Best Interest advice, is it not important to understand a client’s entire Household Balance Sheet℠ and ensure that a product meets the client’s best interest in this complete context?

This is the basis of RIIA®’s approach to providing “complete” advice built into the RMA® program, the HHBS℠ and Procedural Prudence Map.

Complete advice can not only be provided in retail channels but also in defined contribution channels where “integrated benefits” can become “integrated planning”.

Acceptance may be a long time in coming – but the rule creates new planning gaps that need to be addressed.  RIIA is uniquely positioned to address them.

Francois Gadenne
Co-Founder, Chairman and Executive Director
RIIA®