President Donald Trump's move to begin rolling back Obama-era financial regulations, including the fiduciary rule aimed at protecting retirement savers, has left many individual investors wondering what this means for their brokerage accounts.While the president's move last week didn't delay the rule's April 10 implementation date, it did order the Labor Department to review and halt the retirement-savings rule if it determines it conflicts with the administration's regulatory principles. Experts say the order is expected to delay the implementation date.
"There are better ways to protect investors, and the Trump administration is taking action to do so," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Friday. Mr. Spicer said the "rule's intent may be to have provided retirees and others with better financial advice, but in reality, its effect has been to limit the financial services that are available to them."
Most brokerages are now waiting to see what the Labor Department does next, leaving retirement savers in limbo.
However, some firms have already rolled out a number of changes to comply with the rule and are sticking with plans to improve disclosures to investors-regardless of the rule's fate.
Here are some of the plans and indications on how firms will proceed if the rule moves ahead as planned, or if it is delayed, revised or rescinded:
Merrill Lynch
The Bank of America Corp.-owned brokerage will no longer offer individual retirement accounts that charge commissions, instead favoring charging retirement savers a fee based on a percentage of their assets. The firm has also rolled out simpler client account statements to offer greater fee clarity. What's staying: Merrill is moving ahead with many of its fiduciary-rule related changes, including the decision to no longer offer commission-based IRAs.
Morgan Stanley
The Wall Street firm planned to offer both fee- and commission-based IRAs, although the latter wouldn't offer investors access to certain investment products immediately, such as alternatives like annuities. The firm also planned on making product pricing changes, such as around commissions. What's staying: Morgan Stanley plans to continue with its changes even if the rule is halted, specifically around greater client disclosures and changes to its commission pricing.
Wells Fargo Advisors
Similar to Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo planned to make changes to its commission-based IRA product so it complied with the rule. What's staying: Wells Fargo plans to move forward with certain changes, such as heightened supervision of retirement accounts, people familiar with the matter have said.
LPL Financial Holdings
The firm introduced new commission-based products, such as a mutual-fund-only brokerage account and lowered investment minimums on some advisory products. What's staying: Many of LPL's changes have already been enacted, such as lowering investment minimums on some of its fee-based account offerings.
Raymond James Financial
The firm didn't fully detail its compliance plans, but executives had pledged to offer clients a choice between advisory and commission-based retirement products. What's staying: Executives haven't commented on how the firm will proceed following the president's executive action.
J.P. Morgan Chase
The company said it would follow a path similar to Merrill and only offer its brokerage clients a fee-based IRA. What's staying: How the bank proceeds isn't clear as the firm has declined to comment on the president's action.
Edward Jones
The firm planned to no longer offer mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in commission-based IRAs. It also raised the minimum on commission-based IRAs to $100,000, while lowering the investment minimum on certain fee-based products. What's staying: Edward Jones declined to comment on the president's action, but the firm has already moved ahead with some changes, such as the lowering of investment minimums on some fee-based accounts.