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Saturday, March 21, 2015

Choose to Seize All of the Marrow Out of LIfe

Henry David Thoreau wrote in his book, Walden, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately … and not when I came to die discover that I had not live. I wanted to life deep and suck all the marrow out of life … to put to rout all that was not life.” While written more than a century ago, we might inquire what Henry David Thoreau might write about today. Perhaps that we know how to live life fast, but not deep. Or perhaps that we are so distracted by television, video games, and other mindless activities that we don’t actually live life at all.
EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE …
Over the past few years I’ve assigned students in some of my classes various activities designed to expand their “comfort zones.” The result? While some students did not obtain all they could out of the assignment, most appeared to gain significant benefits from it. Here are a few of the comments I’ve recently received:
  •  “These experiences have taught me that it doesn’t always matter what people think about you in life. The ones who matter don’t mind, and the ones who mind don’t matter.”
  •   “What scare me most? Rejection … but now I will try to take more risks and I now understand even if someone does say no to me there is nothing wrong with that because there will always be more opportunities.”
  •  “I want to change my fixed mindset to a growth mindset.”
  •  “This assignment helped me realize how small my comfort zone really is. It forced me to do things I wouldn’t normally do and got me to expand my horizons. I think this assignment can be beneficial to whomever is doing it.”

Make the most out of your college life. Decide right now to make the next seven weeks the most impactful of your life. Choose to undertake one activity a week, from the list (see excerpt from Ron's book, below), and you can dramatically change your life for the better. You own self will love you for it!
CAN THESE VIDEOS CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
There are great pearls of knowledge and skills to be learned in the classrooms at college. But not all learning is done in the classroom; much wisdom can be found elsewhere. Hence, in addition to choosing to expand your comfort zone through the attached activities, I also suggest you team up with a friend or a family member and watch one or more of the following videos, from my personal list of favorites
Just take one hour out of your next day, and you can propel yourself down a path of greater success with the insights you obtain from these interesting, and often entertaining, short videos:

Believe in yourself. And act to become a better friend, companion, family member, student, and person – each and every day.
Carpe diem.
Thank you.
Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP®

Ron is a college professor, where he provides innovative instruction in financial planning and other business courses. Commencing July 2015 he will be joining the Department of Finance at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, where he will serve as Program Director of its rapidly growing and nationally reknowned personal financial planning program.


EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE
 Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, “Do one thing each day that scares you.”
I once met two brothers, students in my class, who – despite having characteristics of introverts – were outgoing, friendly, and always willing to tackle new challenges. Having lunch with them one day, I discovered their secret. Each and every morning, as their mother sent them off to school, their mother said: “Do one thing today that scares you.”
We must realize that our brains are hard-wired, from the days of the cave men, to flee from danger. But in today’s society, where interpersonal skills are so highly valued, we need to learn to overcome fear. Otherwise fear prevents us from achieving, and it takes a far greater bite out of our life than we should permit it to do.
While not all fears should be overcome, many fears cause us to be anxious in social situations. To overcome these and related fears, each of us needs to seek to “expand our comfort zone.”
As you expand your comfort zone, you actually grow as a person to fill out these new boundaries.
If you have a larger comfort zone, and continue to push the edges of it out, you really do grow as an individual – you have more experiences, undertake more learning, and acquire more wisdom.
Understand the Need to Say “Yes”!
In the 2008 movie “Yes Man,” Jim Carrey plays Carl, who reluctantly promises to stop being a "No Man" and vows to answer "Yes!" to every opportunity, request or invitation that presents itself thereafter. While the result (in the movie) is both hilarious and, at times, moving, the movie is actually based upon a real experiment. In fact, after the movie, some individuals chose to say “Yes!” for an entire week. Here’s one blog post indicating the results: http://vladdolezal.com/blog/2009/my-real-world-yes-man-experiment/
If saying “Yes!” to everything for a week is too much of a challenge, then consider an alternative – calculated activities to expand your “comfort zone.” For much of the past 30 years, I’ve taken on the challenge of expanding my comfort zone. Being a severe introvert, I first learned how to socialize at receptions and similar events (a skill I am still working on). I began to give speeches and presentations, first to small groups; this evolved into my current ability to give speeches to a several hundred or a few thousand people at various conferences without any undue nervousness.
Each and every one of us has her or his own “comfort zone.” Studies have shown that 40% of college students possess social anxiety – i.e., shyness. And the remaining 60% possess anxiety in other circumstances, such as public speaking, meeting someone new for the first time, etc. The truth is that each and every one of us can expand their comfort zone, significantly, over time. And college is a great place to undertake this effort.
Why do this? Life’s magic occurs largely outside your current comfort zone. If you want to suck all the marrow out of life, as I do, you need to be willing to put yourself out there into areas of “discomfort.” Then, as you adjust, you become more and more comfortable in those situations, thereby expanding your comfort zone, you actually grow as a person to fill out these new boundaries.
If you develop a larger comfort zone, and continue to push the edges of it out, you really do grow as an individual – you have more experiences, undertake more learning, and acquire more wisdom.
In short, you experience life more fully.
As an added bonus, when you interview for a job in your career field you will be a better interviewee, and job candidate. The better jobs go to the graduates who are more personable and well-rounded!
Learn to Rush Toward Your Fears!
I am deathly afraid of heights, and always have been. As a child, during a visit to New York City, I was very nervous about going up the Empire State Building, and even more so when my parents urged me to peer down from the observation deck to the streets below. My fear of falling was intense; and my parents could never get me to ride any roller coaster - regardless of how small or tame it may have been.
So at the age of 18 years, I faced a dilemma. I was in my first summer at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. I found out that on the summer cruise, in just a few weeks’ time, I would be required to climb the rigging of the tall ship, the U.S.C.G. Eagle, and to work aloft handling the sails.
While at the Coast Guard Academy I received instruction from a Boatswain's Mate, who had been in the Coast Guard for about a decade. He previously had served on the Eagle, and as he taught us various types of knots he explained where on the Eagle we might find a use for each one. As he was teaching several cadets and me the intricacies of tying a bowline (a type of knot), I asked the Boatswain’s Mate, with some apprehension in my voice, “How difficult is it to climb the Eagle's rigging?” The Boatswain's Mate paused from working the line in his hands, looked me straight in the eye, and simply said: "Rush toward your fear."
A few weeks later, my fellow swabs - that's what they called first year cadets - were flown to Miami, where we picked up the Eagle to take her on a week-long training cruise. So here I was, at the Port of Miami, aboard the docked ship, with my gear stowed.  It was an early summer evening, and I was on deck, looking up at the three masts, the 10 yardarms, the crosstrees, shrouds, halyards, and all the other rigging. As I was looking up, contemplating my fate, the Officer of the Deck approached me and asked, "Want to go aloft?"
I imagine I turned white a bit, but just then I remembered what the Boatswain’s Mate had said.  "Rush toward your fear." So I nodded to the Officer of the Deck, stowed my hat, and headed up the rigging. I climbed up the rope ladder, past the first platform and the lowest yardarm. I continued higher and higher, pausing every several steps to look around – and at times down to the deck, appearing smaller and smaller as I went higher and higher. Past two more yardarms, and finally I made it to the second and higher platform upon which I could sit, pause, and regain my senses.
But just then the Officer of the Deck shouted up, “Keep going. Touch the commissioning pennant.” I looked down, then up, terrified. The shrouds (lines running up and down) were very narrow at this point, and it was difficult to fit my big shoe in the rigging to go higher. But, keeping in mind what the Boatswain’s Mate had told me, higher I did go, the last thirty feet, and touched the commissioning pennant at the top of the mainmast, some one hundred fifty feet above the deck.
As I headed back down, I traversed out onto the footrope that hung beneath each of the yardarms. My big feet found each single footrope that hung beneath each yardarm with ease with a firm grip on the handrails affixed to each yardarm. I traversed out to the end of each yardarm, then returned back to the mast.
I also paused and sat on each platform, partly to rest and partly to enjoy the view.  In the rays of the setting summer sun, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Not only had I climbed the rigging, far beyond the point where I ever thought I would, but I was the first among my classmates to do so.
From that day forward, I was known as a “rigging rat,” always willing to go aloft to furl or unfurl the sails.
A year later, I was aboard the Eagle for a longer summer cruise, this time across the Atlantic and back. When returning, just northwest of Bermuda, the ship encountered a low-pressure system. (A better description of the low-pressure system would be “minor hurricane” – although I was not convinced that hurricanes could be minor.)
It was the middle of the night. Cadets were not allowed on deck, except for the bridge crew. The Eagle was under sail, in seventy-five knot winds, with gusts up to ninety knots. Even though it was the dead of night, the sea was awash in white, as the wind and waves combined to brew a froth of whitecaps and foam atop the thirty-foot high waves.
That night I was on duty on the ship’s helm. I led a team of six cadets, on three connected six-foot ship’s wheels, as we sought to keep the ship on course. The Eagle did not have power steering, so turning the rudder, via the wheel, required a good amount of muscle applied by the six cadets.
Only the three lower sails on each mast were deployed that night, as the top two sails had long been furled in order to not strain the masts too much. Suddenly the gaskets that constrained the topsail to the yardarm blew out. This posed a dangerous condition – not only could we lose a sail in the powerful wind, but the stress being placed on the mast by the sail flapping in the high wind could cause it to snap. If the mast snapped, it could fall to and through the deck, even punching a hole in the hull of the ship. In short, the ship was at risk.
The Captain quickly sent an experienced enlisted man aloft to secure the sail. After twenty minutes, the enlisted man signaled down that he needed more line. The Captain looked around, spotted me on the wheel, and asked: “Rhoades, want to go aloft?”
I wouldn’t say that I wanted to go aloft in those conditions. But a request from your Captain was more like a very strong suggestion, and somewhat close to an order. So I headed down to the Boatswain’s Locker, measured out eighty feet of line, cut and spliced the ends of the line, and wrapped it in a coil. With the coil of line slung over my shoulders, I headed up to the deck, crossed to the side of the ship, and in a pause between the waves crashing over the ship's side, I then grasped the rigging and headed aloft.
The Eagle, though under sail, reeled from side to side and yawed fore and aft. Climbing the rigging was instantly a challenge, for as the ship careened over onto one side I found myself not climbing vertically, but rather at times almost horizontally, looking down at the deck. Then, as the Eagle careened to its other side, I hung on, for I would find myself hanging on to the rigging, looking straight up to the sky, with all fours – and even at times with my head seemingly below my feet.
Fifteen minutes of effort later, I finally reached the top yardarm. I left the rigging and traversed out onto the footrope beneath the yardarm. There I encountered the enlisted man – the very same Boatswain’s Mate who had taught me knots more than a year before. We looked each other in the eye, and he nodded at me, with a slight smile passing his lips. I nodded back, and then together we set to work, wrapping up the sail with the line and tightly securing it to the yardarm. Some thirty minutes later, we were back on deck, exhausted from battling the high winds and sea spray as we worked aloft. Yet it was a physical exhaustion only, for our minds raced as we recalled the journey we had together pursued during the past hour.
Rush toward your fear – or you will miss out on the great experiences in life.
Today I am still afraid of heights. But I have been on roller coasters since I was eighteen years of age.  And I have gone up in many tall buildings (and even, at times, I have peeked over the edge).
If you are confronted with some fear, realize this. Whatever fear is facing you - whether it be the fear of meeting someone new for the first time, or the fear of public speaking, or some other fear in life - rush toward it. For once you are past it, life is great on the other side.
Your Assignment: 
First, watch the following TedX talk, only six minutes long: “Measuring Comfort Zones” by Marcus Taylor at TEDxMelbourne. (6 minutes).
Then, for each of the next seven weeks, choose two activities each week from the list below. Choose those activities that scare you – i.e., those activities that expand your comfort zone. Please note that you may not repeat any activity.
At the end of each week, you should write down your progress in your journal. Schedule a reminder on your smart phone for the same day and time, once a week for nine weeks, to record your journal entries.
Your journal entries might start off in the following manner:
I expanded my comfort zone over the past week by undertaking two activities I would not have normally undertaken.
For the first activity I … (Describe the activity. What was the result for you? How did it make you feel?) As a result of all of this experience, I have realized that ….
For the second activity I … (Describe the activity. What was the result for you? How did it make you feel?) As a result of all of this experience, I have realized that ….
Here are the activities to choose from:
1. Eat something different – a food item you have not tried in at least a year.
2. Give at least three people compliments on any day, when you normally would not (counts as one activity).
3. Smile at (all) strangers, and say “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” or “Hi” to all the people you pass by, for one entire day – and wherever you are!
4. Get to sleep (bed) one hour earlier for four nights straight, and at the same time each night (this counts as one activity).
5. Speak up in a class – when you normally would not speak up.
6. Go to an on-campus event or which you typically would not go to, or engage in a new activity on-campus.
7. Thank a friend or family member for their ongoing support.
8. Tell someone they are loved.
9. Let go of your self-judgment for a day. And do something others would never think you would do. Feel good about yourself. If others think ill of you – they do not matter; they are no longer part of your personal universe.
10. Peform on Karaoke night.
11. Show three friends or acquaintances the benefits of the “Power Pose” and show them the video (Google search: “TedX Power Pose”).
12. Unplug your t.v. and video games for one entire week.
13. Use the writing center on-campus for assistance in reviewing the draft of an essay or paper.
14. Do your math homework in the math lab, seeking assistance when needed.
15. Ask for a tutor.
16. Form a study group, or join one, during the next seven days.
17. See a professor for guidance on “how to do better” in a particular class, or on a particular assignment.
18. See a professor for tips or career paths and/or “how to best network to find jobs or internships.”
19. Obtain counseling at the student health center to talk through a problem or to seek ideas on how to relieve stress.
20. Apologize to someone you have done wrong / admit you were wrong.
21. Write a “personal log entry” in which you forgive someone for a wrong done to you. Let go of bitterness and anger. Let go of a grudge. (Whether you choose to communicate your forgiveness to the other person is up to you, and dependent upon the circumstances.)
22. Perform three “random acts of kindness” in one day (counts as one activity). For ideas on random acts of kindness you might undertake, Google search the term “random acts of kindness.”
23. Go up to a stranger in a student dining or coffee shop area. Introduce yourself and ask him or her if you can ask them a few questions, for an assignment you are working on. Find out the person’s name, major or occupation, hometown, and what they like most and least about the college or the program they are in.
24. Change your group of friends (i.e., don’t “lie down with dogs”), or disassociate yourself over time from one friend who tends to drag you down.
25. Undertake a civic engagement activity with others.
26. Post a “success tip” once a day, each day, or your dorm room door or another place on campus, or on your social media page, for five straight days. Make certain you indicate below the success tip your identity, such as: “This success tip provided courtesy of (your name).”
These exercises can be powerful, if you approach them with an open mind and a view toward personal growth.
Prior comments received from students include:
  •         “Some students don’t really understand the point of these exercises. But, it’s teaching the confidence that you need to survive in the business world.”
  •         “As a result of all these experiences, I have realized how important it is step outside your comfort zone.  I never realized how much you could be missing out on when you stay within your safe day-to-day routine.  Although not every experience was a pleasant one I still enjoyed all of these exercises.”
  •         “I feel that doing things which are uncomfortable can make life more worthwhile.”
  •         “I know some of these tasks might come by easy to some people, but they were hard ones for me. I realize that stepping outside your comfort zone not only builds strength, but it also helps you realize things about yourself you would have never known if you didn’t do the unusual.”
  • ·         “I would do this project one hundred times over again.”

Friday, March 6, 2015

Plan Sponsors: Beware Reliance on Non-Fiduciary "Consultants"

I've previously written about the inability of a fiduciary plan sponsor to rely upon a non-fiduciary "retirement plan consultant." The thrust of my prior argument is that the fiduciary is bound to select experts diligently. Without the consultant possessing a fiduciary duty the plan sponsor is usually without a remedy should the recommendations later be shown to be poor, due to the shield of the low standard of suitability.

Permit me to expand upon that prior recommendation, by suggesting steps any plan sponsor or endowment fund should undertake to ensure adherence to its fiduciary duties.

Recent research indicates that these retirement plan "consultants" don't add any value. Yet, many pension funds and endowments hire investment consultants to help them choose fund managers. It is estimated that 82% of pension plans in the United States utilize such services. These consultants, often very large firms, charge hefty fees.

The 2015 Commonfund prize was recently granted to an academic paper that concludes: "we find no evidence that these (the consultants') recommendations add value, suggesting that the search for winners, encouraged and guided by investment consultants, is fruitless." Jenkinson, Tim and Jones, Howard and Martinez, Jose Vicente, Picking Winners? Investment Consultants' Recommendations of Fund Managers (September 26, 2014). Journal of Finance, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2327042.

The paper notes:  "The cost of pursuing a strategy of picking actively-managed funds, encouraged and guided by investment consultants, is considerable: the institutional funds in our sample charge, on average, 65 basis points a year, which is far in excess of the cost of alternative index-related strategies. Moreover, plan sponsors pursuing an active strategy tend to switch managers more often than those adopting an indexed approach, incurring transition costs which further widen the gap between the two approaches. Consultants face a conflict of interest, as arguably they have a vested interest in complexity. Proposing an active U.S. equity strategy, which involves more due diligence, complexity, monitoring, switching, and therefore more consultancy work, drives up consulting revenues in comparison to simple, cheap solutions."

So what should sponsors of either defined contribution plans or defined benefit plans do?

(1) First, the plan sponsor should get rid of all revenue-sharing payments. These create insidious conflicts of interest.

Third-party administrator (TPA)/recordkeeper and custodian fees should be negotiated separately from the fees of the investment adviser. A possible benchmark to utilize for TPA/recordkeeper fees might be Employee Fiduciary, LLC - a low-cost provider with an excellent reputation for service. Available custodial options must be considered depending upon the selection of the TPA/recordkeeper and, possibly, the selection of the investment adviser.

(2) Second, the plan sponsor hire a fiduciary consultant. A fixed fee should be negotiated for services in establishing an Investment Policy Statement for the plan (or endowment fund), which is essential, and for assistance in selecting investments. Ensure that the fiduciary consultant accepts no compensation from any other firm providing services or products to the plan or fund.

(3) Next, the plan sponsor should ascertain the process for selecting asset classes and then for selecting investment products in each asset class, given the needs of the plan, its participants, or the fund.

(4) Follow that process - with diligence and thoroughness. And use sound judgment at each step of the process. Insist that decisions be backed up by sound academic research, or back-testing of data (preferably over multiple data sets and time horizons), or both.

      (4-A) For the selection of asset classes to include in the plan, consideration should be given to the historical returns of those asset classes as well as correlations among them.

      (4-B) When the time comes for selection of specific mutual funds, the plan sponsor or endowment fund manager should insist that any review of investment product providers consider the "best" mutual fund providers. In my view, these are Dimensional Funds Advisors (www.us.dimensional.com), The Vanguard Group (www.vanguard.com), and TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.com). Others might be added, but these three are strong candididates for the best mutual fund complexes.

Additionally, the plan sponsor or endowment fund manager might do well to insist that at least one-half of the mutual funds chosen are "passively managed" - i.e., not dependent upon either individual security selection by the qualitative judgment of active managers and not dependent upon market timing. While some of these passively managed funds might be index funds or index ETFs, to negate the transaction costs resulting from index reconstitution other "passively managed" vehicles might be utilized.

      (4-C) Insist upon a written report from the engaged investment adviser, containing the recommendations, along with all research and data which supports the recommendations.

(5) Undertake a comprehensive review, at least every other year. Periodic (quarterly) reviews of more limited scope might be undertaken.

It is time for "consultants" to be held to a higher standard - and to add value, for much more reasonable professional-level fees. No consultant should be hired who possesses a material conflict of interest.

Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP(r) is an investment advisor and attorney. Commencing in July 2015 he will join the Finance Department faculty at Western Kentucky University, where he will chair its rapidly growing Financial Planning Program. Ron may be reached at ron@scholarfi.com. 

Sunday, March 1, 2015

The Fallacy of the "Choice" Argument by Opponents to the DOL's Fiduciary Rulemaking

Over and over again, opponents of the fiduciary standard (whether imposed by the DOL or the SEC) herald their cry of "Don't Limit Investor Choice." For example, the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), whose members include some very large broker-dealer firms, insurance companies, and asset managers / product manufacturers (among others), recently opined that the DOL’s fiduciary rulemaking would keep “many Americans from working with the trusted advisor of their choice, even in the critical decision regarding rollovers from their 401k and 403(b) plans.” Yet, is this statement - “don’t limit choice” – a legitimate argument?

I submit the following observations:

(1) There are two types of relationships under the law – arms-length (sales) relationship, and advisory (fiduciary) relationships.

(2) Fiduciary status results in the highest standards imposed by the law.

(3) Brokers complain that, having moved into the realm of advisory relationships, and now holding themselves out as trusted advisors, they should nevertheless not be held to the fiduciary standards which attach to such trusted advisor – client relationships.

(4) Despite the fact that the United States firmly embraces capitalism, even Adam Smith acknowledged that the imposition of professional duties would be required at times as a constraint upon greed, including the enactment of professional standards of conduct.

(5) The solution to the problems of today is imposing fiduciary standards upon all those who – regardless of the nature of their registration – provide advice to consumers. Consumers may still choose to deal with product sellers – but they will be armed (hopefully) with clear, concise instructions that they are in an arms-length relationship, not entitled to “rely” upon any statements provided by the (non-fiduciary) broker. Moreover, brokers must not utilize titles, nor other marketing tactics, in which they hold themselves out as advisors.

I conclude that "choice" will not be limited. But, a continuation of fraud and misrepresentation, which so often occurs today, will be avoided. 

(1) DISTINGUISHING ARMS-LENGTH
(SALES) RELATIONSHIPS VS.
FIDUCIARY (ADVISORY) RELATIONSHIPS

It is first interesting to note that NAPFA uses the phrase “trusted advisor” – this is itself is telling of the type of misrepresentations which occur by many brokers today, as these salespersons promote themselves as “trusted advisors” and achieve relationships of trust and confidence with their clients.

        ARMS-LENGTH SALES RELATIONSHIPS

        PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS
        (providers of mutual funds, ETFs, variable annuities, etc.)

        hire and pay

        SALES REPRESENTATIVES
        (brokerage firms and their registered representatives)

        to sell to

        CUSTOMERS

The customers are entitled to rely on the “good faith” of the broker, dealer, or seller (i.e., no actual misrepresentations or fraud concerning the product may occur, delivery must occur in good faith), modified somewhat by the requirement that any product sold must be “suitable” to the customer’s needs (which relates mainly to product-specific risks, not to the fees, costs, or tax consequences of the product). There is no requirement to recommend the best product available.

For example, a car salesman could recommend the sale of a Yugo, even though a similar model Toyota would be better. And, in the realm of financial services, salesmen often recommend poor products, because the manufacturers of such products pay higher compensation to the sales representatives (brokers) in order to incentivize the sale of inferior products.

The customers are in a position of arms-length with respect to the sales representatives (brokers). In such a sales relationship, caveat emptor applies – i.e., the customer must be diligent, is not entitled to rely upon the broker for advice. The customer must protect herself or himself from undue harm, for non-fiduciaries who contract with their customers can engage in “conduct permissible in a workaday world for those acting at arm's length.” Meinhard v Salmon, 249 NY 458, 464 (N.Y. 1928).

While the vast majority of relationships in commerce today are arms-length relationships, the growing import of the fiduciary relationship, as specialization in society increasingly occurs, should not be overlooked.

           FIDUCIARY ADVISORY RELATIONSHIPS

           CLIENT
           Seeks out a trusted advisor for guidance.
           Requires expert advice to navigate the
           complexities of the modern financial world.

           Engages and pays

           PURCHASER’S REPRESENTATIVE
           A fiduciary advisor who is bound to represent
           the best interests of the client at all times.
           Armed with expert knowledge, steps into the
           shoes of the client. Possessing broad fiduciary
           duties of due care, loyalty, and utmost good
           faith toward the client.

           Who screens and advises upon

           INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
           In other words, securities providers.
           Increased competition exists to develop
           better products and more choices, due to
           the presence of knowledgeable advisors
           acting as representatives of the purchaser.

In contrast to arms-length relationships, the law imposes upon one party to some relationships the status of a fiduciary.  This form of relationship is called the “fiduciary relationship” or “fiducial relationship.”  One upon whom fiduciary duties are imposed is known as the “fiduciary” and is said to possess “fiduciary status.”

(2) UNDERSTANDING THE FIDUCIARY
PRINCIPLE: THE HIGHEST STANDARD
IMPOSED BY LAW

The fiduciary standard of conduct is consistently described by the courts as the “highest standard of duty imposed by law.” See, generally BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 523 (7th ed. 1999) ("A duty of utmost good faith, trust, confidence, and candor owed by a fiduciary (such as a lawyer or corporate officer) to the beneficiary (such as a lawyer's client or a shareholder); a duty to act with the highest degree of honesty and loyalty toward another person and in the best interests of the other person (such as the duty that one partner owes to another."); also see F.D.I.C. v. Stahl, 854 F.Supp. 1565, 1571 (S.D. Fla., 1994) (“Fiduciary duty, the highest standard of duty implied by law, is the duty to act for someone else's benefit, while subordinating one's personal interest to that of the other person); and see Perez v. Pappas, 98 Wash.2d 835, 659 P.2d 475, 479 (1983) (“Under Washington law, it is well established that ‘the attorney-client relationship is a fiduciary one as a matter of law and thus the attorney owes the highest duty to the client.’”), cited by Bertelsen v. Harris, 537 F.3d 1047 (9th Cir., 2008); also see Donovan v. Bierwirth, 680 F. 2d 262, 272, n.8 (2nd Cir., 1982) (fiduciary duties are the “highest known to law”).

Justice Philip Talmadge of the State of Washington Supreme Court summarized the core aspects of current fiduciary relationships:

A fiduciary relationship is a relationship of trust, which necessarily involves vulnerability for the party reposing trust in another. One's guard is down. One is trusting another to take actions on one's behalf. Under such circumstances, to violate a trust is to violate grossly the expectations of the person reposing the trust.  Because of this, the law creates a special status for fiduciaries, imposing duties of loyalty, care, and full disclosure upon them.  One can call this the fiduciary principle.

Von Noy v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 2001 WA 80 (WA, 2001) (J. Talmadge, concurring opinion).

This much higher standard of conduct flows from the requirement of the fiduciary “to adopt the principal’s goals, objectives, or ends.” Georgakopoulos, Nicholas L., Meinhard v. Salmon and the Economics of Honor (April 1998). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=81788 or DOI:  10.2139/ssrn.81788.

This duty to adopt the client’s ends as one’s own “is what makes fiduciary law unique and separates fiduciaries from other service providers.” Meinhard v. Salmon, 164 N.E. 545 (N.Y. 1928). “Justice Cardozo held that a nonmanaging partner could share in a deal that the owner of the property the partnership managed had offered to the managing partner although the deal would begin after the termination of the partnership's 20-year term and included significant property beyond what the partnership had managed. Meinhard provides a workable definition of fiduciary duties as requiring the obligated party to act with the ‘finest loyalty’ to the owner's interests.” Ribstein, Larry E., “The Structure of the Fiduciary Relationship” (January 4, 2003). U Illinois Law & Economics Research Paper No. LE03-003.  Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=397641 or DOI:  10.2139/ssrn.397641

As Professor Arther Laby more recently further explained:

Some even use the phrase ‘alter ego’ to reference the fiduciary norm.  This personalizes the duty in a particular way. The fiduciary must appropriate the objectives, goals, or ends of another and then act on the basis of what the fiduciary believes will accomplish them – a happy marriage of the principal’s ends and the fiduciary’s expertise. The fiduciary does not eliminate its own legal personality, rather it must consider the principal’s delegation of authority to the fiduciary from the perspective of fidelity to the principal’s objectives as the fiduciary understands them.

Laby, Arthur B., “The Fiduciary Obligation as the Adoption of Ends,” Buffalo L. Rev 99, 135 (2008), available at available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1124722.

(3) BROKERS PROVIDING "ADVICE"
HAVE LONG BEEN HELD TO BE FIDUCIARIES

Despite the fact that brokers (i.e., registered representatives of broker-dealer firms) possess an exemption from registration (if their advice is “solely incidental” and if “no special compensation is received”) as an investment adviser (upon whom fiduciary status is imposed by the Advisors Act, as consistently interpreted since its enactment in 1940), brokers can become fiduciaries under a variety of legal theories. One of these is if they possess a relationship of trust and confidence with their customer. In other words, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, while providing a limited exception from the application of its registration requirements for brokers, did not negate the potential status of brokers as fiduciaries under state common law.

The SEC’s March 1, 2013 release acknowledges that brokers and their registered representatives may possess a fiduciary duty under state common law: “A broker-dealer may have a fiduciary duty under certain circumstances. This duty may arise under state common law, which varies by state. Generally, courts have found that broker-dealers that exercise discretion or control over customer assets, or have a relationship of trust and confidence with their customers, are found to owe customers a fiduciary duty similar to that of investment advisers.” [Emphasis added.] See also January 2011 SEC Staff Study, at pp.10-11. “While broker-dealers are generally not subject to a fiduciary duty under the federal securities laws, courts have found broker-dealers to have a fiduciary duty under certain circumstances. Moreover, broker- dealers are subject to statutory, Commission and SRO requirements that are designed to promote business conduct that protects customers from abusive practices, including practices that may be unethical but may not necessarily be fraudulent.” It should be noted that the views expressed in the Study were those of the staff and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission or the individual Commissioners. See also A Joint Report of the SEC and the CFTC on Harmonization of Regulation (Oct. 2009), available at http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/cftcjointreport101609.pdf, stating: “While the statutes and regulations do not uniformly impose fiduciary obligations on a [broker-dealer (BD)], a BD may have a fiduciary duty under certain circumstances, at times under state common law, which varies by state. Generally, BDs that exercise discretion or control over customer assets, or have a relationship of trust and confidence with their customers, are found to owe customers a fiduciary duty similar to that of investment advisers … State common law imposes fiduciary duties upon persons who make decisions regarding the assets of others. This law generally holds that a futures professional owes a fiduciary duty to a customer if it is offering personal financial advice.” Id. at pp.9-10. [Emphasis added.]

Courts have held that a fiduciary relationship, resulting from a relationship based upon trust and confidence, need not be created by contract.  It may arise out of any relationship where both parties understand that a special trust or confidence has been reposed.  “A fiduciary relation does not depend on some technical relation created by or defined in law. It may exist under a variety of circumstances and does exist in cases where there has been a special confidence reposed in one who, in equity and good conscience, is bound to act in good faith and with due regard to the interests of the one reposing the confidence.”  In re Clarkeies Market, L.L.C., 322 B.R. 487, 495 (Bankr. N.H., 2005). Stated differently, once a relation between two parties is established, “its classification as fiduciary and its legal consequences are primarily determined by the law rather than the parties. Thus, unlike a party to a contract, a person may find himself in a fiduciary relation without ever having intended to assume fiduciary obligations. The courts will look to whether the arrangement formed by the parties meets the criteria for classification as fiduciary, not whether the parties intended the legal consequences of such a relation.” Tamar Frankel, “Fiduciary Law,” 71 Calif. L. Rev. 795, 817 (1983).

These more recent pronouncements only buttress what was already well known back early in the 20th Century and in the 1940’s.

Stockbrokers were known to possess duties akin to those of trustees, including the duty of utmost good faith and the avoidance of receipt of hidden forms of compensation. As stated in the 1905 edition of an early treatise:

He is a Broker because he has no interest in the transaction, except to the extent of his commissions; he is a pledgee, in that he holds the stock, etc. as security for the repayment of the money he advances in its purchase; so he is a trustee, for the law charges him with the utmost honesty and good faith in his transactions; and whatever benefit arises therefrom enures to the cestui que trust.

John R. Dos Passos, A Treatise on the Law of Stock-Brokers and Stock Exchanges, The Banks Law Publishing Co., 2ND Edition (1905), Vol. 1, at p. 180-1.

By the early 1930’s, the fiduciary duties of brokers (as opposed to dealers) were widely known. As summarized by Cheryl Goss Weiss, in contrasting the duties of a broker vis-à-vis a dealer:

By the early twentieth century, the body of common law governing brokers as agents was well developed. The broker, acting as an agent, was held to a fiduciary standard and was prohibited from self-dealing, acting for conflicting interests, bucketing orders, trading against customer orders, obtaining secret profits, and hypothecating customers' securities in excessive amounts -- all familiar concepts under modern securities law.

Cheryl Goss Weiss, A Review of the Historic Foundations of Broker-Dealer Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, 23 J. CORP. L. 65, 66 (1997) (providing a summary of the historical development of brokers and dealers before the ’33 and ’34 securities acts).

The fact that stockbrokers were known to be fiduciaries at an early time in the history of the securities industry (when acting as brokers and not acting as dealers) should not come as a surprise. To a degree it is simply an extension of the laws of agency. One might then surmise that, if the broker provides personalized investment advice, then a logical extension of the principles of agency dictates that the fiduciary duties of the agent also extend to those advisory functions, as the scope of the agency has been thus expanded. See RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF AGENCY § 1.01 cmt. e (2006) (“Any agent has power over the principal’s interests to a greater or lesser degree. This determines the scope in which fiduciary duty operates.”).

Early on the SEC also opined on the status of brokers as fiduciaries. The SEC opined in its Seventh Annual Report: “The preceding case [Hope & Co.] is one of a series of cases involving revocation of registration ordered by the Commission during the year in which fraud, arisirig out of an abuse of a fiduciary duty, has been alleged.  Other cases were: In the Matter of Commonwealth Securities, Inc.; In the Matter of Securities Distributors Corporation; In the Matter of Equitable Securities Company of Illinois; and In the Matter of Geo. W. Byron &: Co. In some of these cases, including Commonwealth Securities, Inc. and Securities Distributors Corporation, the registered broker or dealer had attempted to avoid fiduciary responsibility by use of words on the confirmation intend to indicate that in the particular transaction it had not acted in a fiduciary capacity, but, in such cases, the Commission held that the form of confirmation could not alter the fiduciary character of the relationship where this was clearly established from the other facts and circumstances surrounding the transaction. The case of Geo. W. Byron &: Co. involved transactions in which the firm acted as agent for both parties to the transaction and accepted commissions from each without the other's knowledge and consent, which constituted an abuse of thc fiduciary responsibility to which an agent is subject. In the Matter of Securities Distributors Corporation involved failure of a securities firm, while acting as a fiduciary, to disclose information in its possession which the customer would wish to have in deciding whether to enter into the transaction. In the Matter of Equitable Securities Company oj Illinois involved a fiduciary obligation arising from a relation of trust and confidence between the customer and the securities company. In the decision in In the Matter of Hope & Company the Commission held:

‘A broker-dealer exercising supervision over a discretionary account is; Of course, an agent and under the principles already discussed these transactions constitute a violation of the statutory provisions cited …’

and further held:

‘A broker is an agent and it is, of course, a general principle of law that an agent may not, in the absence of consent of the person whom he purports to represent, deal with such person as a principal. This is so irrespective of any injury or loss to the principal. It follows that when a broker-dealer represents to a customer that he is effecting a transaction as broker, and, without the knowledge or consent of the customer buys from or sell to the customer as a principal, he is making a misrepresentation of a material fact and is engaging in a fraudulent practice which violates Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, Section 15(c) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule X-15Cl-2 thereunder.’

In this opinion the Commission quoted the following statement of the law by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Hall v. Paine [224 Mass. 62, 112 N. E. 153.]:

‘A broker's obligation to his principal requires him to secure the highest price obtainable, while his self-interest prompts him to buy at the lowest possible price … The law does not trust human nature to be exposed to the temptations likely: to arise out of such antagonistic duty and influence. This rule applies even though the sale may be at auction and in fact free from any actual attempts to overreach or secure personal advantage, and where the full market price has been paid and no harm resulted * * *’”

Seventh Annual Report of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1941, at p. 158.

In its 1940 Annual Report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission noted: “If the transaction is in reality an arm's-length transaction between the securities house and its customer, then the securities house is not subject' to 'fiduciary duty. However, the necessity for a transaction to be really at arm's-length in order to escape fiduciary obligations, has been well stated by the United States. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in a recently decided case:

‘[T]he old line should be held fast which marks off the obligation of confidence and conscience from the temptation induced by self-interest.  He who would deal at arm's length must stand at arm's length.  And he must do so openly as an adversary, not disguised as confidant and protector.  He cannot commingle his trusteeship with merchandizing on his own account…’”

Seventh Annual Report of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1941, at p. 158, citing Earll v. Picken (1940) 113 F. 2d 150.

The SEC also “has held that where a relationship of trust and confidence has been developed between a broker-dealer and his customer so that the customer relies on his advice, a fiduciary relationship exists, imposing a particular duty to act in the customer’s best interests and to disclose any interest the broker-dealer may have in transactions he effects for his customer … [BD advertising] may create an atmosphere of trust and confidence, encouraging full reliance on broker-dealers and their registered representatives as professional advisers in situations where such reliance is not merited, and obscuring the merchandising aspects of the retail securities business … Where the relationship between the customer and broker is such that the former relies in whole or in part on the advice and recommendations of the latter, the salesman is, in effect, an investment adviser, and some of the aspects of a fiduciary relationship arise between the parties.” 1963 SEC Study, citing various SEC Releases.

The SEC also summarized a court decision finding that the furnishing of investment advice by a broker was a “fiduciary function.”  The SEC stated: “In the Stelmack case the evidence showed that the firm obtained lists of holdings from certain customers and then sent to these customers analyses of their securities with recommendations listing securities to be retained, to be disposed of, and to be acquired … The [U.S. Securities and Exchange] Commission held that the conduct of the customers in soliciting the advice of the firm, their obvious expectation that it would act in their best interests, their reliance on its recommendations, and the conduct of the firm in making its advice and services available to them and in soliciting their confidence, pointed strongly to an agency relationship and that the very function of furnishing investment counsel constitutes a fiduciary function.” – from the 1942 SEC Annual Report, p. 15, referring to  In the Matter of Willlam J. Stelmack Corporation, Securities Exchange Act Releases 2992 and 3254. See also Arleen W. Hughes, Exch. Act Rel. No. 4048, 27 S.E.C. 629 (Feb. 18, 1948) (Commission Opinion), aff’d sub nom. Hughes v. SEC, 174 F.2d 969 (D.C. Cir. 1949) (broker-dealer is fiduciary where she created relationship of trust and confidence with her customers).

Even FINRA, the broker-dealer regulatory association, whose members include broker-dealers, acknowledged that brokers would be fiducaiaries in specific situations, early on in the history of FINRA (formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers, or NASD). In a very early opinion issued by the NASD, it was pronounced that brokers were fiduciaries: “Essentially, a broker or agent is a fiduciary and he thus stands in a position of trust and confidence with respect to his customer or principal.  He must at all times, therefore, think and act as a fiduciary.  He owest his customer or principal complete obedience, complete loyalty, and the exercise of his unbiased interest.  The law will not permit a broker or agent to put himself in a position where he can be influenced by any considerations other than those to the best interests of his customer or principal … A broker may not in any way, nor in any amount, make a secret profit … his commission, if any, for services rendered … under the Rules of the Association must be a fair commission under all the relevant circumstances.” – from The Bulletin, published by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Volume I, Number 2 (June 22, 1940).

Later, in discussing the decisions of two cases, the NASD wrote that it was “worth quoting” statements from the opinions:  “In relation to the question of the capacity in which a broker-dealer acts, the opinion quotes from the Restatement of the law of Agency: ‘The understanding that one is to act primarily for the benefit of another is often the determinative feature in distinguishing the agency relationship from others. *** The name which the parties give the relationship is not determinative.’ And again: ‘An agency may, of course, arise out of correspondence and a course of conduct between the parties, despite a subsequent allegation that the parties acted as principals.’” - from N.A.S.D. News, published by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Volume II, Number 1 (Oct. 1, 1941).

NASD also noted that a dealer in securities was not a fiduciary, but rather a merchant, stating: “A member when acting as a dealer or principal in a transaction with a customer is acting essentially as a merchant, buying or selling securities for himeself, for his own account, and like all merchants, hoping to make a profit of the difference between the price at which he buys or has bought for himself and the price at which he sells for himself. A member when acting as a dealer or principal is thus not subject to the common law principles of agency which apply to a broker, but a dealer must at all times make it clear to his customer that he is acting as a dealer or principal, if that is the fact.” – from The Bulletin, published by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Volume I, Number 2 (June 22, 1940). [Emphasis added.]

Despite the depth of this early authority, brokers have consistently argued against the imposition of fiduciary status, even though they provide personalized investment advice. And FINRA, in a glaring omission from the early 1940’s to today, has never acknowledged in its rules of conduct for its members that brokers, as a result of their agency, owe broad fiduciary duties of due care, loyalty, and utmost good faith when the broker and/or its registered representative is in a relationship of trust and confidence with the client.

Over the past four decades, following the repeal of fixed commissions for trading in stocks, and with the assistance of ill-advised positions advanced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, brokers (i.e., registered representatives of broker-dealer firms) have held themselves out as “trusted advisors” through the use of titles denoting their role as an advisor, through marketing confirming such impressions, through giving ongoing advice in the selection of managers, through “special compensation” received in the form of 12b-1 fees, and by other means. They have successfully blurred the distinction between non-fiduciary product salespeople and fiduciary trusted advisors, to the detriment of consumers of advisory services.

It is against this backdrop, in which brokers have moved even further toward advisory relationships, and now hold themselves out as “financial consultants” and “financial advisors” and “wealth managers” (and many other terms which infer status as a trusted expert), and in which brokers have steadfastedly refused to accept the restrictions which come from fiduciary status, that the DOL’s rule-making is taking place. The DOL seeks to negate, at least with respect to the defined contribution accounts and IRA accounts over which it possesses jurisdiction, the rampant misrepresentations which occur today, and in so doing to more clearly distinguish "product sales" from "advice."

(4) SHOULD UNRESTRICTED CHOICE
ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE?
WHAT WOULD ADAM SMITH SAY?

The "don't limit consumer choice" has somewhat of a populist nature to it. Americans value their "freedoms" - and they treasure capitalism.

The undeniable truth is that capitalism runs on opportunism. In his landmark work, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith described an economic system based upon self-interest. This system, which later became known as capitalism, is described in this famous passage: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” (Smith, p. 14, Modern Library edition, 1937).

As Adam Smith pointed out, capitalism has its positive effects. Actions based upon self-interest often lead to positive forces which benefit others or society at large. As capital is formed into an enterprise, jobs are created. Innovation is spurred forward, often leading to greater efficiencies in our society and enhancement of standards of living. As Adam Smith also noted, a person in the pursuit of his own interest “frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.” (Smith, p. 423)

Taken to excess, however, the self-interest which is so essential to capitalism can lead to opportunism, defined by Webster’s as the “practice of taking advantage of opportunities or circumstances often with little regard for principles or consequences.” A stronger word exists when consequences to others are ignored - “greed.” We might define “greed” in this context as the selfish desire for the pursuit of wealth in a manner which risks significant harm to others or to society at large. Whether through actions intentional or neglectful, when ignorance of material adverse consequences occurs, the term “greed” is rightfully applied.

Restraints upon conduct are necessary for all actors in our society, if capitalism to function. Some actors, such as those in relationships of trust and confidence with their clients, must accept further restrictions, beyond the boundaries of good faith required in all commercial relationships. Even Adam Smith, the founder of modern capitalism: “Our continual observations upon the conduct of others insensibly lead us to form to ourselves certain general rules concerning what is fit and proper either to be done or to be avoided.” Adam Smith, THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS 109 (1759).

Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street, who famously declared that “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” got it wrong. Opportunism itself – acting in pursuit of one’s self-interest - does not always lead to greed. Rather, it is only when the pursuit of wealth causes significant undue harm to others does such activity arise to the level of greed, and in such circumstances th e rise of greed is not “good.”

What would Adam Smith say today?  Even Adam Smith knew that constraints upon greed were required. While Adam Smith saw virtue in competition, he also recognized the dangers of the abuse of economic power in his warnings about combinations of merchants and large mercantilist corporations.

Adam Smith also recognized the necessity of professional standards of conduct, for he suggested qualifications “by instituting some sort of probation, even in the higher and more difficult sciences, to be undergone by every person before he was permitted to exercise any liberal profession, or before he could be received as a candidate for any honourable office or profit.” (Smith, p. 748, see also pp. 734-35. As seen, “Smith embraces both the great society and the judicious hand of the paternalistic state.” Shearmur, Jeremy and Klein, Daniel B. B., “Good Conduct in a Great Society: Adam Smith and the Role of Reputation.” D.B Klein, Reputation: Studies In The Voluntary Elicitation Of Good Conduct, pp. 29-45, University of Michigan Press, 1997.)

In essence, long before many of the professions became separate, specialized callings, Adam Smith advanced the concepts of high conduct standards for those entrusted with other people’s money.

What would Adam Smith, if he were alive 250 years later, observe regarding the modern forces in our economy? He would likely opine, given the economic forces that led to the recent Great Recession, that unfettered capitalism can have many ill effects. Indeed, he would observe that for all of its virtues, capitalism has not recently been a very pretty sight. And he would likely proscribe many cures – including prudential regulation through the application of fiduciary principles of conduct upon those who provide investment advice.

(5) THE SOLUTION: DISTINGUISHING
“ADVICE” FROM SALES; HOLDING
ALL “ADVISORS” TO FIDUCIARY STANDARDS;
THE “SELLER’S EXEMPTION”

Michael Kitces, a renowned industry commentator, best expressed the sentiment that what proponents of the fiduciary standard desire is not that everyone become a fiduciary, but rather that everyone who provides investment advice become a fiduciary:

[T]he only kind of advice is fiduciary advice, delivered in the best interests of the person receiving the advice. Merriam-Webster defines the act of advising as "to give (someone) a recommendation about what should be done" (emphasis mine); in other words, telling the person what should be done that's in their interests is the very essence of what advice is, in the first place! On the other hand, the suitability standard is about offering a product for sale that is suitable - or at least, not unsuitable - given the client's circumstances. The latter, simply put, is not a standard for advice; it's not actually about advice at all, but simply determining whether a product being sold is so unsuitable that it's unconscionable to allow it to be bought at all. Advice, as Merriam-Webster makes clear, it about telling someone what actually should be done, not merely what would be "not unsuitable" to buy …

Accordingly, the real debate is not about whether consumers should have a choice between fiduciary or suitability; the real choice is between working with an advisor who delivers advice and working with a salesperson who sells a product. Notably, the latter is not intended in a derogatory or pejorative manner; it is simply to make the distinction between someone who offers bona fide advice - which, by definition, is in the interests of the person receiving the advice to get a recommendation about what should be done - versus someone who offers a product for sale, which is implicitly in the interests of the person or company offering the product for sale but should only be offered when it is not unsuitable to do so.

Why is this distinction of advice versus sales more important than fiduciary versus suitability? Because, cast in the context of advice versus sales, the solutions quickly become more readily apparently. The goal of fiduciary advisors should not be to subject everyone to the fiduciary standard; it should be to subject everyone offering advice to the fiduciary standard. If you don't want to be treated as a fiduciary, that's fine; just don't offer advice, and don't hold yourself out as offering advice. People who offer securities or insurance products for sale eliminate the words "financial advisor" or "financial consultant" from their business cards, and simply hold themselves out for doing what they do: registered representative, stockbroker, or insurance agent. Those who offer advice hold themselves out as advisors, and subject themselves to the appropriate standard.

Michael Kitces, Nerd’s Eye View (blog), “The Public Deserves a Choice, But It’s Not Fiduciary Vs Suitability” (Jan. 4, 2012), available at https://www.kitces.com/blog/the-public-deserves-a-choice-but-its-not-fiduciary-vs-suitability/. [Emphasis in original.]

Should we fail to make the distinction – between advisors and salespeople – the ramifications for consumers will continue to be untold amounts of harm. As observed by Professor Langevoort:

[W]hen faced with complex, difficult and affect-laden choices (and hence a strong anticipation of regret should those choices be wrong), many investors seek to shift responsibility for the investments to others. This is an opportunity – the core of the full-service brokerage business – to use trust-based selling techniques, offering advice that customers sometimes too readily accept. Once trust is induced, the ability to sell vastly more complicated, multi-attribute investment products goes up. Complex products that have become widespread in the retail sector, like equity index annuities, can only be sold by intensive, time-consuming sales effort. As a result the sales fees (and embedded incentives) are very large, creating the temptation to oversell.  In the mutual fund area, the broker channel – once again, driven by generous incentives - sells funds aggressively. Recent empirical research suggests that buyers purchase funds in this channel at much higher cost but performance on average is no better, and often worse, than readily available no-load funds …

‘[U]ltimately, this is where we see the clearest gap between advisers and brokers. An adviser is presumably expected to recommend the best available securities for the desired portfolio, taking costs into account. By contrast, a broker has no well-defined obligation to offer the best available securities—just suitable ones with no hidden risks or fees. Within these norms, the broker is free to push what is in inventory, or what is otherwise most profitable to sell, even if there may be other, less costly investments that would satisfy the customers risk/return preferences just as well or better.”

Donald C. Langevoort, “The SEC, Retail Investors, and the Institutionalization of the Securities Markets” (Jan. 2009).

IN CONCLUSION – THE "SELLER'S
EXAMPTION AND THE FALLACY
OF THE “CHOICE” ARGUMENT

While we do not yet know the actual content of the U.S. Department of Labor’s re-proposed regulation, it is apparent from public comments by its authors that the regulation will provide a “seller’s exemption.” In essence, consumers will possess the choices they previously possessed. The argument that the regulation will “limit consumer choice” is a fallacy.

The “seller’s exception” is logical. This provides the "choice" for consumers. In essence, consumers may still choose to deal with product sellers – but they will be armed (hopefully) with clear, concise instructions that they are in an arms-length relationship with the broker and that they are not entitled to “rely” upon any statements provided by the (non-fiduciary) broker. The consumer will know, we hope, that she or he must protect himself or herself, and that any recommendations received from the (non-fiducairy) salesperson must be scrutinized carefully.

But what should NOT be a choice present is the ability to mislead consumers - by providing advisory services, and/or holding out as an advisor (through the use of titles or otherwise) - and then hiding behind the veil of suitability when something goes wrong.

It is my hope that the regulation will specify that brokers must not utilize titles, nor other marketing tactics, in which they hold themselves out as advisors, in order to utilize this seller’s exemption. For it is a fundamental truth that “to provide biased advice, with the aura of advice in the customer’s best interest, is fraud.” [Angel, James J. and McCabe, Douglas M., Ethical Standards for Stockbrokers: Fiduciary or Suitability? (September 30, 2010), at p.23.  Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1686756.]

What should be different under the DOL’s re-proposed “Definition of Fiduciary” rule (at least, I hope, having not seen the text of the rule itself) is a return to when fiduciary standards were imposed upon all relationships of trust and confidence, where advice as to the purchase of securities by clients occurs. Only in this respect will “choice” be restricted – i.e., bad product sales recommendations can no longer masquerade as trusted advice.

Perhaps National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), which espouses that “many Americans” would be prevented “from working with the trusted advisor of their choice,” should examine their own messaging. For it is obvious that NAPA desires, for some of its broker-dealer and insurance company members – the continuation not of choice, but of consumer fraud, by permitting sales activities under the low suitability standard of conduct to continue to occur within relationships of trust and confidence, when it is altogether proper that the higher fiduciary standard of conduct should be applied.

However, in essence, under the DOL's re-proposed regulation, consumer choice will continue. Consumers will be able to rely upon trusted advisors, or they may choose to work with product sellers. Only now, the distinction between the two will become clearer.

The argument of those opposed to the imposition of fiduciary standards - that this regulation will constrain consumer choice - is a fallacy.