Investment Fiduciaries typically have a close, ongoing relationship with their 401(k) plan. They consult plan participants and employers how to make better investments out of their retirement plan contributions and afterwards they pledge to continue monitoring the investments and assess their prudence over time.
Still that is a role of a point in time fiduciary, serving as a fiduciary at a particular moment with a one-time recommendation. With the evolution of the vacated DOL Fiduciary Rule and the expansion of what it means to be a fiduciary, there are more situations where advice at a single moment in time could be seen as a fiduciary act. But this doesn’t make you a better fiduciary. A fiduciary is an individual in whom another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money. A fiduciary has an obligation to act for another’s benefit – this is more of a principle rather than a rule.
Being a fiduciary, by definition, means an ongoing relationship. Whether you are RIA or Plan Sponsor being a better fiduciary means real fiduciary relationship with clients through ongoing commitment to act in the client’s best interests. Read the full article as DWC Managing Partner Keith Clark explores better fiduciary pre-requisites in the context of best interest requirements in his article on EBN: How Plan Sponsors Can be Better Fiduciaries (With or Without the Rule)
