California Bucks 401(k) Advice Fight With Best-Interest Law (1)

California has become the latest state to enact business-friendly regulations strengthening retirement annuity recommendation standards, defying pressure from the left to coalesce behind the Biden administration’s fiduciary proposal.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Thursday minimum best-interest standards for insurance producers recommending annuity products to workers and retirees. The law favored by insurance lobbyists strengthens client protections against conflicted retirement advice but stops short of broader fiduciary prohibitions favored by Democrats at the federal level.

Insurance producers have propped up best-interest model standards as a better alternative to the US Labor Department’s proposed fiduciary rule that would apply the ...