<!–:en–>DOL ISSUES FINAL RULES ON INVESTMENT ADVICE<!–:–>

Participants in Section 401(k) plans will have greater access to investment advice as the result of a final rule published Oct. 25 by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. According to a DOL fact sheet on the rule, millions of workers direct at least a portion of the investments in their retirement plans, but fiduciary rules restrict investment advice where the advisers would receive compensation from the investment vehicles they recommend. To address the increasing need for quality investment advice, the rule permits advisers to receive fees when recommending investments to plan participants, but it includes “safeguards and conditions” aimed at preventing advice that is skewed toward investment products that pay higher fees to advisers. 10.27.2011