NAIFA SURVEY ON BEST INTEREST STANDARD AND CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to develop a “best interest standard” for financial advisors, and state securities regulators are considering developing a continuing education program for investment advisor representatives. NAIFA needs to hear from you on these critical issues.
As many of you are already aware, the SEC announced last week that it will develop a proposed regulation to subject financial advisors to a “best interest” standard when selling products and making recommendations to their clients. In order to fully respond to the SEC’s request for comments, and to assure that any rulemaking not negatively impact your business, it is vitally important that we understand the demographics of NAIFA members. Separately, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the organization which represents the state securities commissioners, is considering whether to develop a continuing education (CE) program for investment advisor representatives (IAR). Many state securities regulators view the lack of CE standards as an investor protection gap, and NASAA may address this issue by developing a model regulation for states that would mandate CE training for IARs. Recently, NAIFA attended a meeting with NASAA representatives where we informed regulators of NAIFA’s willingness to participate in the development of this CE program.
If you are a registered representative or an IAR, please take a few minutes to complete the survey to help NAIFA better understand your thoughts on a best interest standard and any training requirements for IARs whether required through your firm or mandated by your state. We greatly appreciate your time and assistance with our survey.
