The Department of Labor’s latest proposal to expand the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will cause significant disruption to the advice landscape surrounding 401K rollovers and IRAs and will have substantial knock-on effects for retail insurance distribution channels generally.

In this report, Distribution Disruption: Impacts of the Department of Labor Fiduciary Standard for US Life Insurers, the authors summarize views that they have validated through a series of interviews and discussions with a cross-section of industry leaders and subject matter experts. They believe that insurers should be considering the standard carefully, quantifying exposures under a range of impact scenarios, and developing strategic plans around portfolio strategy, distribution, and product innovations.