Who's Looking Out For You?

The uncertain fate of the fiduciary rule shows why investors always need to be vigilant

- Katherine Chiglinsky

Among all the financial reforms launched during the Obama administration, the fiduciary rule may have been the most important to ordinary investors. Issued by the Department of Labor in 2016, the rule required brokers working with retirement accounts to put clients’ interests ahead of their own—for example, by recommending an annuity that was better for the client rather than one from a company that paid the broker a bigger commission. The regulation was hailed as an historic win by consumer advocates, and the financial-services industry began remaking many of its products and pay structures to comply.

Now the regulation is all but dead. In March a federal appeals court struck it down, and the Trump administration has not appealed the ruling. Where does that leave retirement investors? The outlook is anything but clear.