Investment “Shake Up” Says Advice Should Serve Investors First; Aura Wealth Advisors Responds to New Fiduciary Rule from Department of Labor
Jefferson City, MO (PRWEB) April 19, 2016 -- The investment industry is looking at its biggest system-wide change in the past 40 years, spurring debates and comments nationwide. Bert Doerhoff, CPA, founder of Aura Wealth Advisors, recently responded to the new Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule, revealed on April 6, 2016. The amended rule dictates that investment professionals must offer investment advice designed to benefit the investor rather than advice focused on sales commissions.
The amended fiduciary rule, if passed, creates a new standard that requires the client’s interests to be placed first in any investment consideration. The previous suitability standard, which has generally been used by brokers and some other investment professionals, simply requires the advisor make recommendations that are “suitable” for the client’s situation, but does not stipulate that the recommendation be in the client’s best interest.
“The current suitability standard places a financial advisor in a potentially conflicted situation in which they may be tempted to recommend an investment to a client that pays a high commission to the advisor, but does not pay the best return to the investor,” says Doerhoff. “The pending changes to the fiduciary rule mean this is one of the most significant time periods in the history of investing. These changes will impact all investors, everywhere.”
The change to the Department of Labor’s regulations has been met with significant resistance from some members of the investment industry. Some brokerage companies anticipate extensive restructuring of their brokerage practices and possible elimination of jobs due to lower revenues. Firms will have until Jan. 1, 2018, to change the way they work with clients for IRA and ERISA retirement accounts to align with the amended rule.
However, not every financial advisor will be scrambling to adjust for the new rules, according to Doerhoff. “Aura Wealth Advisors, like others who have maintained a fee-only, client-first approach, has always held to the more stringent fiduciary standard,” he says.
“You have to ask yourself why anyone would fight a rule that was in the best interest of the investor if they truly cared about the investor,” says Doerhoff. “We have always acted in a fiduciary standard in everything we do and not just on IRA and retirement accounts. In fact, we go beyond the fiduciary standard and help clients place the right investments in the right accounts in order to minimize income taxes and transfer taxes as they transfer their wealth and values to heirs.”
About Bert Doerhoff:
Bert Doerhoff, CPA, the founder of Aura Wealth Advisors, is a fee based investment advisor who works with families and small business owners to help them protect and grow wealth for life. He designs comprehensive tailored investment solutions with strategic defensive investment approaches that retain growth potential. Guided by fiduciary standards, he works with clients to build a legacy and deliver ever increasing cash flow in retirement that will protect their lifestyle from the effects of inflation.
Contact Bert Doerhoff, CPA, by email at bdcpa(at)AccuBiz(dot)net; by phone at (573) 634-4006; or learn more at http://www.AuraWealth.com.
Amy Vaughan, Aura Wealth Advisors, http://www.aurawealth.com/, +1 (816) 396-8575 Ext: 504, [email protected]
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