These are the 10 most important things you need to know about the Obama administration's new rule that affects $12 trillion of your money

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FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.

Today is the day! The Department of Labor unveiled a "streamlined" version of its long-awaited fiduciary rule requiring advisors to put their clients' interests ahead of their own when it comes to overseeing retirement accounts.

As such, Business Insider has a special issue of the Financial Advisor Insights Newsletter dedicated specifically to addressing questions about the new rule.

The 10 most important things advisors need to know about the DOL fiduciary rule (Financial Planning)

InvestmentNews' Jason C. Roberts put together a handy guide on the ten things advisors need to know about the new DOL rule.

Roberts covers questions including: how the rule applies to recommendations, when an advisor will be held to a fiduciary standard, how the rule affects additional compensation, and how to integrate the BICE and existing clients.

The DOL made some concessions to advisors, but the "meat of the rule" is still there (SEI Advisor Network)

"The initial discussions this morning have been around how the rule had been 'softened' on behalf of the financial services industry (extension of timeline to implement, inclusion of proprietary products, email notifications etc.) but the meat of the rule is still there," John Anderson, Managing Director of Practice Management Solutions at SEI Advisor Network, wrote to Business Insider in an email.

"The 'conflict of interest rule' as it was called in the press conference today puts the industry on notice that although the DOL will allow exemptions, in reality, the financial advisor should only be doing fee based business going forward. Advisors should be wary of using the exemptions amid a storm government, media and competitive forces positioning against their use," he added.

Here's what the DOL's new rule means for RIAs (ThinkAdvisor)

Skip Schweiss, managing director for retirement plan services and advisor advocacy at TD Ameritrade, told James J. Green that dually registered RIAs will be impacted more than fee-only RIAs. He also noted that he felt as though RIAs aren't completely ready for the new rule. "There was an [erroneous] idea that it only applied to brokers and insurance agents," he told Green.

“If I were them, I’d be in touch with my securities lawyer or ERISA lawyer," he added.

Small clients might get hurt by the DOL rule (FA Magazine)

Some advisors are worried about unintended consequences — and who might get burned in the aftermath.

“Basically, only small clients will be hurt, as no one will work with them except computers or robots,” Ross Gerber, president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, a hybrid RIA in Santa Monica, CA, told Christopher Robbins.

“Unfortunately for them, pure play ‘robo advice’ is not truly financial advice, and many people need actual financial advice. If the intent is to help people pay less in fees, that will work, but it will also mean they get no advice. I can’t see how this improves the world. With all the information on the Internet, clients are informed about loads and fee structures and should have a choice which way they want to pay.”

Here's how the new DOL fiduciary rule could affect regular investors (Business Insider)

Business Insider's Kathleen Elkins put together a guide on what the DOL's new rule will mean for everyday investors. 

She cited Liz Davidson, founder of Financial Finesse and author of "What Your Financial Advisor Isn't Telling You," who said that, "Instead of investment advisors recommending an investment that is suitable for you, meaning it's not unsuitable — it's not something egregious or wildly inappropriate — the financial planner you have, as it relates to your retirement plan accounts, will have to recommend what's in your best interest. That standard is much tighter than the suitability standard." 

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