LPL Caps Non-Traded REIT Pay Ahead of DOL Rule, Delays Off-Platform Fund Ban
June 6, 2017 | by Mason Braswell | AdvisorHub
Taking advantage of the Department of Labor’s announcement that it will not actively enforce its fiduciary rule until at least January, LPL Financial is offering its 14,400 brokers a reprieve on its plan to prohibit them from buying mutual funds for customers directly from fund companies.
The ban irritated many brokers who argued that buying direct is less expensive at times than transacting all business over LPL’s platform. The largest independent broker-dealer said in a new notice to brokers that it will institute its “direct business” policy on January 1, 2018, when the phased implementation of the fiduciary rule that begins this Friday becomes fully effective.
In another new development stemming from the rule’s effort to curb product-specific sales incentives and standardize compensation within product categories, the biggest independent broker-dealer said it will impose commission limits on sales of nontraded real estate investment trusts (REITs), business development companies (BDCs) and real estate limited partnerships (RELPs) as of August 31, 2017.
