FSI Adds 15 Firms to Membership in 2016

October 4, 2016

Three Super OSJs join as full firm members for the first time

In yet another strong show of support for the Financial Services Institute (FSI), 15 firms have joined its membership so far in 2016 – most looking for a partner to help with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. Also, in a first for FSI, three Super OSJs have joined as full firm members.

“While we continue our court challenge of the fiduciary rule, we’ve been calling for both advocacy and planning for compliance, since last year,” said FSI President & CEO Dale Brown. “We are excited that so many firms this year have decided to take advocacy even more seriously and unite their voice with the over 100 other member firms at FSI. While our industry has been focused on the fiduciary rule – and we’ve created a slate of tools to help them be ready for compliance starting in 2017 – it would be a mistake to think this rule is the last threat our industry faces. We must unite the entire industry around the goal of ensuring all Americans have access to objective and affordable financial advice through constructive engagement with legislators and regulators.”

FSI has made the following DOL fiduciary rule tools available to its members:

  • A Best Interest Contract Exemption (BIC) Contract Template: Jumpstart your effort to comply with the BIC’s complicated provisions.
  • A Compliance Guide: This resource provides the home office with information necessary to develop your firm’s unique approach to compliance with the DOL’s fiduciary rule.
  • A Negative Consent Letter: This form will allow you to continue servicing existing retirement accounts without the immediate need to sign new documents with the client should your firm decide to utilize the negative consent process allowed by the BICE.
  • A Fillable IRA Rollover Form: Use this form when moving funds to your firm from an IRA or 401(k).
  • A Disclosure Website Template: This resource is a model site map of the required disclosures that will simplify building the required DOL disclosure website.

To find out more about the tools, go to http://www.financialservices.org/DOL-Fiduciary-Rule-Resources/

In addition to our new broker-dealer firm members, made up of small and mid-sized firms, three Super OSJs, Advantage Financial Group, Private Advisor Group and Integrated Financial Partners, have joined as full firm members and have also brought the rest of their ~800 advisors who weren’t already members into FSI.

“We are coming together as an industry for the good of the investing client, and we are leveraging our collective strength and insight to successfully address the new implications of regulatory change,” said Amy Webber, President, Cambridge Investment Research and Chair of the FSI Board of Directors. “Through FSI we have the collective power of over 160,000 business leaders and more than 100 independent firms. Looking across the advice industry, we must challenge ourselves to find ways to work together to make a real difference for our highest priority, the investing clients. This is a step in that direction and we welcome our new members.”

Please see below for a partial list of the firms who have joined FSI in 2016:
Advantage Financial Group (Super OSJ) – Cedar Rapids, IA
American Wealth Management – Atlanta, GA
Bankers Life Securities – Chicago, IL
CCF Investments – Greensboro, GA
Coastal – Wilmington, DE
Cutter & Company – Ballwin, MO
Integrated Financial Partners (Super OSJ) – Waltham, MA
Private Advisor Group (Super OSJ) – Morristown, NJ
R.M. Stark & Co. – Delray Beach, FL
SANDLAPPER Securities – Greenville, SC
Silver Oak Securities – Jackson, TN
The Leaders Group – Littleton, CO
USA Financial Securities – Ada, MI