“The way I look at the DOL rule is it just accelerated forces in the industry going on for a long, long time,” Gordon said, adding that John Hancock’s “participant-first” mentality means providing non-conflicted advice anyway. “If the DOL thing collapsed or went the other direction, our stance would stay the same.” Foregger echoed Gordon’s comments, adding that the whole industry is moving toward advice that is both scalable and customizable. Regardless of regulation, Foregger believes firms are realizing that fiduciary advice is a sort of Hippocratic oath for the retirement business. “This is the right way,” Foregger said. “Conflict-free advice is where the industry is going.”

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