Operations Partner James Heavey was recently quoted in an article by InvestmentNews looking at the impact of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fiduciary rule that redefines who is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The article focused in particular on how the new rule could affect retail brokerage firms and insurance companies. James commented on how a firm’s size may be a factor regarding compliance efforts:
“It’s not a big deal for the large firms like Stifel or Raymond James because they have the ability to allocate resources on the compliance side of their businesses right away,” said James Heavey, operations partner at Barton, a law firm. “Of course, the potential for confusion with respect to who is a fiduciary is one of the big concerns, particularly for compliance teams at smaller shops. Those are the financial advisors who should be concerned.”
You can read the full article here.
James E. Heavey