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Recent Posts
- May It Please The Court: THE EBSA’s Legally Unsupported, Unfounded, and Bootstrapped Policies Create a Systemic Threat to Plan Participants and Plan Sponsors Alike and Must Be Rejected
- A Call for Senate Oversight Hearings: The Systemic Risk to Plan Sponsors and Plan Participants Created by the EBSA’s Expansive and Legally Unsupported Extrapolations of ERISA Fiduciary Principles
- DOL/EBSA Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-01 Is Not Entitled to Judicial Deference Under The Loper Bright Decision
- Fatally Flawed: Why DOL Administrative Bulletin 2026-01 Will Not, and Should Not, Withstand Judicial Scrutiny
- Terminal Wealth: The True Fiduciary Prudence Paradigm with Regard to the In-Plan Annuity Scam
The Prudent Investment Adviser Rules
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Category Archives: investment advisers
Risk Management and Liability Housekeeping for RIAs
In providing consulting and compliance auditing to investment advisers, I often see what they often consider meaningless issues, but I see as potentially significant issues. Two such issues are improper identification of the registered investment adviser and improper handling of … Continue reading
Make a Little Magic: Developing Trust Relationships With Clients
As both a securities attorney and a CFP® professional, I get to see a side of the financial planning and wealth management industries that few get to see – the consumer’s inside viewpoint on the marketing and service practices side … Continue reading
Posted in DOL fiduciary standard, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, investment advisers, Trust marketing, trust realtionships, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged client trust, ERISA, fiduciary investing, FINRA, investment advisers, investment analysis tools, pension plans, trust relationships, wealth management, wealth preservation
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Point to Ponder: A Reverse BICE Cause of Action?
In talking with some of my colleagues on both the legal and financial planing sides, an interesting question has come up with regard to potential liability under the new BICE provision of the DOL’s new fiduciary standard. I’m writing this … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, BICE, compliance, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, IRAs, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, BICE, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA compliance, suitability
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A Fiduciary Blueprint: The Restatement of Trusts, the Prudent Investor Rule and the DOL’s New Fiduciary Rule
A [fiduciary] is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is the standard of behavior…. Meinhard v. Salmon, 249 N.Y. 458, 464 (1928) Ever … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, Annuities, BICE, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, IRAs, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, Annuities, best interests, BICE, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investment analysis tools, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, suitability, wealth management, wealth preservation
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What Mr. Schlichter Understands…and Plan Sponsors and Investment Fiduciaries Need to Understand As Well
This week attorney Jerome Schlichter, already known for his actions against 401(k)s and plan sponsors for alleged breaches of their fiduciary duties, added a new category of defendants to his practice, 403(b) plans of private colleges and universities. By my … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 403b, 404c, 404c compliance, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, AMVR, compliance, ERISA, evidence based investing, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, investment analysis tools, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA compliance, RIA risk management, risk management, suitability, wealth management, wealth preservation
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ERISA and Modern Portfolio Theory – Prudence Per Footnote 8
As an ERISA attorney and compliance consultant, I often hear plan sponsors and service providers attempt to justify an imprudent investment option by claiming that they are simply complying with the DOL’s and the courts’ adoption of Modern Portfolio Theory … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, DOL fiduciary standard, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, wealth management
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, modern portfolio theory, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA risk management, securities compliance, wealth management
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401(k) Alert: Protecting Plan Sponsors and Plan Participants Under the BICE Exemption
Most of the litigation against 401(k) plans has focused on excessive fees and/or the poor quality of investment options within a plan. With the effective date of DOL’s new fiduciary standard and the Best Interests Contract exemption (BICE) coming in … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, BICE, compliance, DOL fiduciary standard, ERISA, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, IRAs, pension plans, retirement plans, wealth management, wealth preservation
Tagged 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, best interests, BICE, compliance, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, fiduciary standard, investment advisers, pension plans, retirement plans, suitability, wealth management, wealth preservation
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The Two Minute ERISA Fiduciary Liability Risk Management Challenge
I love fiduciary law. In a world with so many legal uncertainties, indecision and “weasel words,” fiduciary law is demanding and direct. The Restatement (Third) of Trusts, specifically Section 90, the Prudent Investor Rule, sets out the basic fiduciary requirements. … Continue reading
Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, ERISA, evidence based investing, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investments, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance, wealth management
Tagged 401k, 401k compliance, 404c, 404c compliance, Active Management Value Ratio, compliance, ERISA, evidence based investing, fiduciary, fiduciary investing, fiduciary law, investment advisers, investment analysis tools, pension plans, retirement plans, RIA, RIA compliance, RIA risk management, securities compliance, wealth management
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The Liability Needle in the RIA Haystack
I have always enjoyed working with registered investment advisers (RIAs) and their representatives (IARs). I first got into the investment industry in 1995, shortly after the NASD issued Notice to Members 94-44. NTM 94-44 clearly stated that BDs had a … Continue reading
The Prudent Investment Fiduciary Rules 