I don’t fly. I drive. That’s why I try to keep all my speakingappointments within a one-day’s drive from my galacticheadquarters. Sure, I’ll go to the coast, but only by train (whichI’ve done three times). Still, I prefer to drive. It’s relaxing.It’s dependable. And it gives me a chance to get a better feel forthis great country of ours.

Recently I had the opportunity to take a long stretch of I-90.In between all the Trump signs (including many home-made ones) andall the Bernie bumper stickers (yes, this was in September, wellafter Primary season), I surfed the radio dial. Now, I’m quiteunlucky when it comes to picking radio stations. It seems like allI can get are commercials. Give me music. Give me talk. Just don’tgive me commercials.

But this time the commercials revealed an unexpecteddiscovery.

As many of you may know, Financial Engines bought The MoneyStore about a year ago. The Money Store has long sponsored localradio talk shows. Apparently, Financial Engines is in the midst ofa radio advertising campaign announcing the name change of theselocal radio talk shows. That’s not the important thing.

Related; Are all conflicts-of-interest thesame?

What’s important is this: Towards the end of the ad, which isostensibly just about the name of the talk show, there’s an “oh bythe way” plug for the firm’s services. Front and center among thoseservices is “acting as a fiduciary.”

Whoa!

And, no, that promise wasn’t limited to retirement accounts only.

Could it be Phyllis Borzi is correct? In a recent interview,(“Exclusive Interview with Phyllis C. Borzi:Independent Business Decisions’ May Lead Companies to ApplyFiduciary Standard Broadly,” FiduciaryNews.com,September 20, 2016), the Assistant Secretary of Labor suggestedthis very thing.

Which gets us back to those abundant Trump signs (mind, I wastraveling through traditionally “Blue” states). It’s fairly clear aPresident Trump will reverse and rescind many of the ExecutiveOrders and regulations promulgated under the Obama administration.Many readers – even those in favor of the Fiduciary Rule – maycheer this, especially with the potentially disastrous OvertimeRule looming upon us beginning December 1.

What kind of impact can we expect should a President Trumprescind the fiduciary rule? (Don’t snicker, with some of the latestpolls suggesting Trump’s lead is nearing double digits and with avirtual tie in the Electoral College, current trends suggest Trumphas a good chance to win).

Should Trump’s incoming administration repeat the actions ofObama’s incoming administration and immediately revoke all recentDOL rules, will it matter to fiduciary advocates?

In many ways, the cat is already out of the bag. Rule or no rulewon’t change the undeniable facts that conflicts-of-interest exist– particularly in specific business models – and thoseconflicts-of-interest have a demonstrably negative impact on clientreturns.

Most now know peer-reviewed academic studies prove this. Thereare no peer-reviewed academic studies that have refuted this.

As a broader audience obtains knowledge and understanding ofthese facts, business models relying on conflict-of-interest fees(at least the one’s identified as harmful in the peer reviewedstudies) will become unsustainable. The market will demand it.

Perhaps this is what we are beginning to see – case in point:Those Financial Engines ads.

How long will it take for the market to wean itself from harmfulconflict-of-interest fees?

Recall the amount of time it took for our culture to accept thefact that cigarette smoking is harmful to our health. Arguably,this took more than a generation.

Even today, with all the scientific evidence and all thegovernment regulations, many people still smoke. And I’m nottalking about long-time smokers, I’m talking about the young peoplewho take up smoking despite the preponderance of evidence andsocial pressure to avoid the deadly habit.

Here’s the difference, though. With cigarettes, it takes yearsfor poorer health implications to appear. The most harmfulconflict-of-interest fees show up immediately (through measurableasset returns). People tend to react in the near-term. Sometimesthis is bad (as in smoking), sometimes this is good (as in gettingtoo close to a hot stove).

That’s from the point of view of the investor. But financialservice providers have the same type of near-term perspective. Ifthey see positioning themselves as a fiduciary brings in morebusiness than not positioning themselves as a fiduciary, what doyou think they will decide to do?

None of these actions, behaviors, and trends require the ongoingexistence of a fiduciary rule. The process that led to theformulation and publication of the rule was necessary to triggerthe movement that led tothese actions, behaviors, and trends.

So, with or without a formal “fiduciary rule,” the DOL hassuccessfully moved consumers – and the industry – on the pathtowards reduced conflicts-of-interest and a better chance forlong-term investing success.