The majority of retirement plan service providers believe that the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule will have a positive or neutral effect on their overall asset retention rate over the next two years.

That’s according to a LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute study, which found that 28 percent of companies believed that the rule would help them increase asset retention, while 36 percent said it would have no impact on their current asset retention rate.

However, the remaining 36 percent expect the rule to result in a minor decline in their asset retention rate.

While the Labor Department would like to see more participant money remain in plans, so that participants will pay less in fees than they might for a rollover account, most 401(k) plans aren’t set up to accommodate even monthly disbursements — something retirees often need in order to create a drawdown plan that will help their assets see them through retirement.

Retirees also don’t have access to holistic retirement advice, say critics of the rule; many retirees don’t know enough — without that advice — to know they need a drawdown plan in the first place.

The rule goes into effect in April of 2017, and expands the fiduciary standard to anyone providing advice on defined contribution plans or individual retirement accounts.

When the final rule was published, there were questions on which actions of call center representatives would be considered participant education and which would be considered advice. The latter would trigger application of the fiduciary standard.

Service providers that strive to retain 401(k) plan participants as customers after retirement actively market rollovers to IRAs to those 401(k) plan participants upon retirement, via their call centers and a retail advisory channel. That way the assets remain with the service provider, merely moving over to its IRA program.

But 75 percent of plan providers surveyed say they will change how their call centers respond to calls related to retirement plan distribution options. Many say they also will change procedures for calls not related to distribution options.

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Retirement plan providers consider DOL fiduciary rule&rsquo;s asset retention effects

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Retirement plan providers consider DOL fiduciary rule’s asset retention effects