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SEC

Declaration of Independence

February 3, 2015 by admin

“Can you be more specific?”

Embarrassing, but true: the retirement industry is asking that of the US government.

The definition of a Fiduciary needs to be more specific because of cases where Plan Sponsors are legally charged unreasonable fees for a long time, but the Department of Labor’s interpretation is undesirable to Wall Street. Of course, Wall Street is on the receiving end of these unreasonable fees.

As an investment advisory firm who identifies in writing as a fiduciary to our clients, we uphold the interests of our client above those of any other interest, because we have no other interested parties. The unfortunate reason that other investment advisors will not agree to sign a fiduciary agreement with a client is because they are “promised” to a large company, who profits from a retirement plan through hidden fees.

While the Plan Sponsor is unaware of this other agreement, and often the Investment Advisor is not entirely upfront about this agreement with the Plan Sponsor’s representatives, it comes out in the end through hidden fees and a whole mess of ugly policies.

The sort of game run here should be illegal. Not because the Plan Sponsors are not careful, instead they often are smart and diligent, but because they are simply not protected by the law. Up to this point, the law is unclear. The Independent Advisor they supposedly hire is not, after all, independent according to a stricter definition now proposed by the Department of Labor, led by Phyllis Borzi.

Insist upon a clear definition of an independent advisor so that you know your advice comes for the interest of your retirement plan, and not for the interest of someone else’s quasi-legal activity. Sign the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/414/401/760/tell-washington-to-stand-up-to-wall-street/

 

Michele L. Suriano, Accredited Investment Fiduciary™, is president of Castle Rock Investment Company, a woman-owned SEC registered investment advisory firm serving qualified retirement plans. www.CastleRockInvesting.com

Filed Under: 401K, Advice, Blog, Castle Rock Investment Company, Department of Labor, ERISA, Fiduciary, Industry News, Katherine Brown, Michele Suriano, Plan Administrator, Retirement Plans, SEC, Uncategorized Tagged With: #SaveOurRetirement, Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Castle Rock, Castle Rock Investing, Castle Rock Investment Company, Department of Labor, DOL, ERISA, Fiduciary, hidden fees, independent investment advice, Investment Advisor, Katherine Brown, Michele L. Suriano, Michele Suriano, petition, Phyllis Borzi, Plan Sponsors, Registered Investment Advisor, retirement, retirement advice loophole, Retirement Industry, Retirement Plan, RIA, Save Our Retirement, SEC, stand up to wall street, strict definition fiduciary, unreasonable fees, US Government, Wall Street, washington, Woman-Owned, workplace retirement plans

Coming Up: Recently Announced Money Market Reform

August 22, 2014 by admin

Friday, August 15, Michele Suriano (President of Castle Rock Investment Company) and I spoke with an industry insider and expert about the recently adopted SEC money market funds reforms. We covered the following key subjects:

  • Floating Net Asset Value
  • Redemption fees (discretionary and default)
  • Discretionary redemption restrictions
  • Disclosures to retirement plan participants
  • Definition of “retail” MMFs

Look for our blog post Tuesday about the reforms.

Do you have questions about what the “key subjects” even mean? Are you an expert with your own opinion about these reforms? Reach out to me at Katherine@CastleRockInvesting.com! We look forward to sharing more with you.

— Katherine Brown, Research Associate at Castle Rock Investment Company

Filed Under: Blog, Castle Rock Investment Company, Industry News, Katherine Brown, Legislation, Michele Suriano, SEC, Uncategorized Tagged With: Castle Rock Investment Company, Investment Company Act 1940, Katherine Brown, Michele Suriano, Money Market Fund Reform, SEC, SEC 33-9616 rule 2a-7, SEC final rule, SEC final rule 33-9616, SEC Proposed Rule Release No. 33-9408, SEC Rule 2a-7 Amendments

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Castle Rock Investment Company, formed in 2006, is an independent woman-owned SEC-registered investment adviser located in Castle Rock, Colorado. We specialize in individual financial plans and qualified service plans.

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From the Blog

State Farm and Edward Jones React to the Fiduciary Rule

By Mack Bekeza With April 10th, 2017 quickly approaching, a large number of investment firms and insurance agencies are scrambling to comply with the DOL fiduciary regulation. However, some firms believe they have found a solution to the upcoming rule. Knowing that their representatives cannot put their clients’ interest first, State Farm and Edward Jones […]

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