The final ruling from the Department of Labor (DOL) on the long awaited regulations requiring advisors to act as “fiduciaries” was announced last week. The ruling basically elevates the responsibilities of all financial professionals to put clients’ interests first and to increase disclosures to better ensure investors are getting appropriate, unbiased, and trusted advice.
The document itself is quite long and complex – 1,200 pages. While it will take time to fully digest, we do already know that it has little to no impact on CCM. CCM was founded on the principle that we will always act in the best interest of our clients, and we’ve held to that value for thirty years now. In addition, as the first firm in Minnesota to earn Investment Advisor certification by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) we actively and voluntarily undergo annual reviews in an effort to demonstrate that our practices ensure the highest standards of fiduciary care for our clients.
We view the recent DOL fiduciary ruling as a step in the right direction for investors and we fully expect the debate on this topic to continue. At CCM, we will continue to sort through the ruling to better understand its impact on both investors and the financial industry as a whole. Rest assured, we do not take our calling as a trusted advisor to our clients lightly. We will move forward, as we have for the past 30 years, earning the trust and confidence of our clients, acting in their best interests, and helping them understand their wealth as a tool to accomplish what is important to them.
If you would like to learn more about the recent announcement we recommend this article by Robert Powell, “Breaking it all down: Fast facts for investors on rule change.”