Author Archives: jwatkins

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About jwatkins

I am a securities and ERISA attorney. I hold CFP Board Emeritus™ status and I am an Accredited Wealth Management Advisor™. I provide fiduciary risk management consulting to 401k/430b plans, trustees, RIAs and other investment fiduciaries. I am a 1977 graduate of Georgia State University and a 1981 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School. I am the author of "CommonSense InvestSense: The Power of the Informed Investor" and "The 401(k)/403(b) Investment Manual: What Plan Sponsors and Plan Participants REALLY Need To Know" I write two blogs, "CommonSense InvestSense, investsense.com, and "The Prudent Investment Fiduciary Rules, fiduciaryinvestsense.com. As a former compliance director, I have extensive experience in evaluating the legal prudence of various types of investments, including mutual funds and annuities. My goal is to combine my legal and compliance experience in order to help educate investors and investment fiduciaries on sound, proven investment strategies that will help them protect their financial security and/or avoid unnecessary fiduciary liability exposure.

“Best Interest,” BICE and Class Action Targets, Part II

Much has been written about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fiduciary rule and the accompanying Best Interest Contract Exemption (BICE). Several writers have suggested that the group that will benefit the most from the rule and BICE are class … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, IRAs, pension plans, retirement plans, securities, securities compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Best Interest,” BICE and Class Action Targets

Much has been written about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fiduciary rule and the accompanying Best Interest Contract Exemption (BICE). Several writers have suggested that the group that will benefit the most from the rule and BICE are class … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, securities compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Best Interest,” BICE and Liability Exposure for Plan Sponsors

I recently posted an article in various LinkedIn groups that addressed the need for various parties to address their duties and potential liability under the DOL’s new fiduciary standard. My comment that accompanied the post was Based on my personal … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, wealth management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making BICE Meaningful – Reality vs. Illusion

I have had a lot of people ask me what I thought of the DOL’s new fiduciary standard. While I think there are some good points to the new fiduciary standard, in many ways the new standard reminded me of … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, wealth management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

And Now the Fiduciary Radar Shifts to …

Now that the DOL has released its new fiduciary rule, advisers are wondering what could be “the next big thing” drawing upon the new rule. Canada has recently announced that it would conduct a sweeping investigation of the abusive marketing … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA Compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The 401(k)/404(c) Plan Sponsor’s Achilles Heels Redux

With the effective date for the DOL’s new fiduciary standard getting closer, I have been receiving questions and calls from plans and fellow attorneys regarding the various obligations under the new standard. For that reason, I am re-posting an updated … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, wealth management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What the New DOL Fiduciary Standard Will and Will Not Do

As many of you may know, I released my new book on fiduciary law last week. I was immediately flooded with emails asking me why I would release the book before the DOL’s announcement. There is so much misinformation and … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, pension plans, retirement plans | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Prudent Investment Adviser Rule™: Risk and Liability Management for Investment Fiduciaries”

With the pending release of the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary standard, I am happy to announce that my new book and ebook, “The Prudent Investment Adviser Rule™: Risk and Liability Management for Investment Fiduciaries,: are now available at amazon.com. … Continue reading

Posted in compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Outsourcing: Panacea or Placebo?

Outsourcing has become a buzzword in the investment advisory industry. I have had many RIA firms tell me that they have outsourced bot their compliance and wealth management functions, allowing them to concentrate solely on marketing and  gathering assets. In … Continue reading

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2016 So Far and the Levy Decision

I recently posted an article on my blogs about the fact that not everyone is losing money in 2016. I had several people respond negatively, some rudely so, suggesting that I did not understand the cyclical nature of the stock … Continue reading

Posted in compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities, securities compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment