Dive Brief:

• Employers with defined contribution plans have some new issues to consider, as the federal government has passed new, tougher regulations for financial professionals as they handle the trillions of dollars invested by Americans saving for retirement, according to the New York Times.

• By design, the new regulations hope to drive retirement funds into lower-cost investments that will save billions for many typical investors, while also setting off one of the "biggest upheavals in the financial services industry in decades," the Times reports.

• After much disagreement with both Wall Street and insurance sectors, the Labor Department's new regulations will require financial advisers and brokers handling individual retirement and 401(k) accounts to act "in the best interests of their clients."

Dive Insight:

“The marketing material that I see from many firms is, ‘We put our customers first,’” Thomas E. Perez, the secretary of labor, told the Times. “This is no longer a marketing slogan. It’s the law.”

Potentially facing a court challenge, the new regs, which are limited to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, have been adjusted after a year of feedback and industry push back, and are not expected to take effect until next spring at the earliest, according to the Times.

Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, told the Times that the new regs have the potential to change the way retail investors, including employees, receive advice. “It is a really big deal. Revolutionary, even,” she said.