Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that the Department of Labor this week released its long-awaited “retirement security rule”, its latest effort to curb conflicts of interest around retirement savings recommendations. Among other measures, the proposal would amend the current 5-part test that determines fiduciary status for retirement accounts by defining as a fiduciary act a one-time recommendation to roll funds from a company retirement plan to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), strengthen advice standards for independent insurance professionals, apply to insurance products that are not securities, and would cover advice to plan sponsors regarding the menu of investment options to include in a company’s retirement plan… though, like the similar ‘fiduciary rule’ proposed during the Obama administration, this latest regulatory effort is likely to face significant pushback from financial product manufacturers and distributors.
Also in industry news this week:
- A recent study indicates that the RIA model has seen significant growth in the number of firms and advisors during the past decade, and these firms are expected to control 1/3 of industry AUM by 2027
- Despite market headwinds leading to a contraction in advisory firm AUM in 2022, firms continued to produce strong profit margins thanks in part to organic growth
From there, we have several articles on investment planning:
- Why certain private equity investments might not have the diversification benefits that many advisors and clients might expect
- Why the current yield on TIPS could make them an attractive part of a retirement income strategy for clients
- While small caps have experienced higher returns than their larger counterparts during the past century, recent research calls into question whether this factor will persist
We also have a number of articles on advisor marketing:
- How content marketing can help advisors attract clients, even if it means giving away some of their ‘secrets’
- Why presenting prospects with proposed planning recommendations ultimately could reduce the chances that they become clients
- How one advisor has used an extra-methodical sales process to convert prospects into clients who will be a good fit for his planning style and philosophy
We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about potential uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for advisors:
- Why advisors are more likely to work in tandem with AI tools, rather than as competitors
- How advisors can produce better ‘prompts’ and get the most out of ChatGPT and other large language models
- Why recommendation engines could be the next big technological advance in investment management
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
