Citing a desire to support “flexibility and choice” for investors working with their financial advisors, Cetera Financial says it will continue to support the use of commissions after the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule takes effect.
“Cetera Financial Group is focused on supporting choice and flexibility for retail investors in working with their financial advisors,” the company explained in a statement shared with ThinkAdvisor. “As such, we will continue to support and enable the use of approved commission-based investments in retirement accounts as part of our suite of DOL-compliant solutions.”
According to the ThinkAdvisor report, the policy affects all independent broker-dealers in the group, which includes approximately 8,500 affiliated advisors, including Cetera advisors, advisor networks, financial institutions and financial specialists. It also applies to First Allied Securities, Girard Securities and Summit Brokerage Services.
‘Split’ Decisions
The announcement follows that of Raymond James, which recently announced that it would continue supporting commissions in servicing retirement accounts, as have Morgan Stanley and Ameriprise.
On the other hand, Commonwealth Financial Network and Merrill Lynch have decided to move away from offering commission-based products in the retirement accounts they serve.
