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Cetera Launches Platform to Help Financial Advisors Cope with DOL Fiduciary Rule

Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker-dealer firms, has launched DOL DynamIQs, a suite of tools and resources designed to help financial advisors prepare for the Department of Labor’s recently released fiduciary rule.

The recently finalized DOL rule expands the definition of ‘fiduciary’ under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which now applies to all financial advisors who work with qualified retirement accounts and IRAs.

Cetera designed the DOL DynamIQs platform specifically to help the network’s advisors understand how the sweeping new rule may impact their businesses. The platform also helps advisors gauge their readiness to comply and develop a game plan to successfully achieve DOL compliance. Effective immediately, DOL DynamIQs is being rolled out to all advisors across the Cetera network at no additional cost.

The tools provided within the program are fully integrated with Cetera’s Pentameter practice management platform; its Connect2Clients advisor marketing communications support platform; and its “90 in 90” advisor transitions platform.

“Cetera and its advisors have always emphasized the importance of putting clients’ best interests first, and we support efforts to further this crucial goal,” said Adam Antoniades, president of Cetera Financial Group. “The Department of Labor’s new regulatory framework is expected to significantly impact the independent advisor business model and will undoubtedly result in substantial changes in compliance and business processes. Financial advisors who work with retirement accounts on any level need to know that their broker-dealer has the in-house expertise and resources to help them identify and cope with the potential impact to their businesses…”

A key component of the new DOL DynamIQs platform will be iQuantify, a diagnostic tool that enables advisors to assess their readiness for the rule and helps them map out an actionable game plan to achieve compliance with minimal disruption to their practices. The introduction of iQuantify will follow a pilot program encompassing Cetera financial advisors across the country.

In addition to iQuantify, DOL DynamIQs provides advisors with:

* An online assessment tool that allows advisors to quickly identify the assets and accounts in their practices that may be impacted by the DOL’s new rule

* A quantitative tool aimed at providing advisors with an in depth analysis of their business and a transition plan for client portfolios not in compliance with the DOL fiduciary rule

* A dedicated consulting service that will provide Cetera advisors with ongoing access to specialists who can help them transition client assets to DOL-compliant solutions; and

* In-depth analysis of the regulation and its implications, combined with extensive educational materials and webcasts detailing the impacts of the rule, how advisors can successfully adapt, and best practices for leveraging Cetera’s industry-leading resources.

Antoniades noted, “…Up until now, the industry as a whole had been impacted by a lack of clarity on what the DOL fiduciary rule would be and the resultant changes it would have on advisors and their practices. With DOL DynamIQs, Cetera is addressing the requirements and impacts of this new rule head-on.”

“Cetera plans to take the lessons we learn through this regulatory transition and apply them towards the development of a range of new technology and service platforms,” he added. “We hope this will turn widespread industry challenges on their head – challenges such as succession planning and marketing to the next generation of clients – and will help our advisors surmount these obstacles in ways that position them for continued success in the future.”

Cetera Financial Group is a network of independent retail broker-dealers comprised of 10 firms – four Cetera-branded firms (Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services, marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions, and Cetera Financial Specialists) along with First Allied Securities, Investors Capital Corporation, Legend Equities Corporation, Summit Brokerage, VSR Financial Services and Girard Securities. Cetera Financial Group is the second largest independent financial advisor network in the nation by number of advisors, as well as a leading provider of retail services to the investment programs of banks and credit unions.