When it comes to fees versus commissions, full-service investors still remain wary or outright dismissive of the former.
According a report by J.D. Power, which surveyed 1,000 full-service investors regarding the possible impacts of the DOL Fiduciary Rule (which, as of now, is still expected to go live in April of this year), advisors don’t seem keen on switching to a fee-based, as opposed to a commission-based, practice.
At the moment, IRA assets represent an $8 trillion market in the U.S.; the impact of the DOL on this market would be severe, according to the report, even though some firms have been slowly switching to fees for a few years now.
There are some firms, such as Merrill Lynch, that have already promised to eliminate the commission model regards of the DOL outcome or of the investor sentiment expressed in this report.
The report also points to the division between older and younger advisors–younger being those under 52 years old–when it comes to alternatives to the commission model that don’t include fees, such as robos or self-service options.
‘Younger’ investors cited a willingness to try these models, with 56% of them stating that they would consider robos as an alternative to traditional financial services. Only 19% of ‘older’ investors agreed with the same statement.
More information can be found here.