Separately, our retail individual business — such as IRA accounts — we have historically placed through our broker dealer. The main reason is that the products for our client demographic did not make sense in the RIA space. For instance, we are seeking a low-cost, easy to use, mutual fund-only platform for our individual clients, and because our retail clients would generally be considered small accounts, the fees and services often were not prudent.

Many of the brokerage account structures we could offer were high priced, not efficient, and included additional transaction fees, which we did not feel were best for our clients. As the marketplace develops further, we hope to see more low-cost, easy to engage and easy to understand solutions made available for our clients that also abide by the fiduciary rule.

At the end of the day, whether BD or RIA, our goal hasn't changed: we will continue to strive to act in the best interests of our clients' retirement needs.

Nick Kralj, director of retirement at BCI Group

Win-win scenario

CFP Board and its Financial Planning Coalition partners submit that the experiences of CFP® professionals and their clients show that a broadly applicable fiduciary standard represents a win-win for the industry and the public.

Today, there are thousands of CFP® professionals across the country who provide fiduciary-level services to everyday Americans either under commission-based business models or for fees with no or very low minimum asset requirements. We firmly believe that when financial professionals operate under a fiduciary standard of conduct, they can continue providing financial advice to investors of all income levels that serves the investors' best interests.

Maureen Thompson, vice president of public policy at CFP Board

A foregone conclusion

The DOL fiduciary ruling will lead to fundamental changes in the retirement industry, by adapting operations and procedures to serve clients with greater transparency, greater choice and greater value. Despite President Trump's executive order to delay implementation, there is already a secular trend moving in this direction across all areas of the financial services industry — and increasing in force over the past decade.

Regardless of the DOL fiduciary rule's status, many product providers and advisors themselves are moving to a fee-based structure that focuses on simplicity, transparency and choice, to serve the clients' best interest. When you put the power back into the hands of the consumer and you sit on the same side of the table as your client, both you and your client can succeed. After all, what financial advisor wants to be seen as not putting their client's interests first? Educated consumers expect it and demand it.

Mitchell H. Caplan, CEO at Jefferson National