Dear NAILBA Member:
Today, the Department of Labor will issue a final fiduciary rule that modifies the market for advice and product sales to qualified plans, plan participants, and IRA holders—which could make it more difficult for insurance producers to best serve their clients. As part of our partnership with AALU, we offer the following:
AALU’s top priority is to fully analyze the impacts of this rule, and give our members the tools and resources needed to navigate the inevitable marketplace disruptions that will result. We have engaged Drinker Biddle as counsel to assist in this effort, led by Brad Campbell, a former ERISA “top cop” at the Department of Labor under the George W. Bush Administration and a nationally-recognized retirement benefits expert.
Drinker Biddle will be providing a complete analysis of the rule’s details and the practical implications for the life insurance industry in a report that we expect to deliver to our members shortly. Additional analyses, fact sheets, and checklists containing actionable information and guidelines concerning implementation will be subsequently provided by Drinker Biddle and AALU staff over the next several weeks and months as we comprehensively assess the rule and its implications. Drinker Biddle will also participate in AALU’s 2016 Annual Meeting during our main stage Super Session panel on the Department of Labor rule.
In addition to these efforts, AALU has created a DOL Implementation Task Force—which includes representatives from our membership and many of our Issue Alliance partners—to facilitate a more cohesive life insurance industry response to the DOL rule, help establish best practices, and harness the knowledge of carriers and our experienced members to explore changes to product designs and new distribution avenues that could result.
Yet while we are focused on implementation issues, we will continue our advocacy to correct any shortcomings with the rule that negatively impact our members and the retirement savers you serve. We’ve worked with our industry partners over the last year to educate Congress about the many problems with the proposed rule as written—AALU submitted several formal comment letters to DOL, testified in front of the DOL and Congress, and held over 200 meetings with Members of Congress—and a number of Senators and Representatives in both parties have expressed serious concerns that the rule could harm the very individuals that the DOL intends to help. To the extent that the final rule fails to address Congressional concerns, we will continue to work with policymakers to explore all avenues to ensure that average retirement savers’ needs are met.
Below, you will find links to a live stream of DOL Secretary Perez’s rollout event at 11:30am today, a link to the full text of the final rule in the Federal Register (posted at 11:15am), and links to additional DOL fact sheets.
Thank you for your commitment, and for being a member of AALU.
Perez Press Event (11:30am): http://1.usa.gov/1U7PpOf
Final Rule Text (11:15am): https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection
DOL Fact Sheet
My "Bersonal" View 