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July 03, 2019 at 10:36 AM
(Image: Shutterstock)
Less than six months from now, advisors registered in Massachusetts will be required to provide clients and prospective clients a one-page standalone table for fees for services, which must also be easily accessible on the advisor’s website if he or she has one.
The fee table “is intended to supplement, not replace, a more detailed disclosure of fees and services“ contained in Form ADV Part 1A and Part 2 (“The Brochure”) that advisors are required to file to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and state securities regulators, according to final rule amendments published by the Massachusetts Securities Division on June 19. The fee table is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
The Massachusetts Securities Division had proposed the fee table in early April, in the form of amendments to its securities regulations for financial advisors, and issued the final amendments after reviewing those comments, making few changes from its proposal.
(Related: Galvin Seeks Feedback on Fee Table for Advisors in Massachusetts)
“The Division believes that requiring investment advisers to distill this information into a simple, easy-to-read Fee Table will ultimately benefit investors by increasing awareness and encouraging discussion with their advisers,” read the amendments. They note that the current Form ADV Part 2 is often “difficult for many investors to understand” and left unread, leaving many not knowing where to find fee information in account statements, contracts or the Brochure. A typical ADV Part 2 can run twenty pages or more.
“The Fee Table is intended to distill and present information about the investment adviser’s fees and services in a more visually accessible formant than the often dense narrative found in the Brochure.” Its one-page is also more concise than the disclosures found in the SEC’s new four-page Customer Relationship Summary (CRS) that the SEC is requiring along with its Best Interest Standard for broker/dealers and financial advisors, according to the Massachusetts Securities Division.
