July 21, 2015 

Office of Regulations and Interpretations 

Employee Benefits Security Administration 

Attn: Conflict of Interest Rule, Room N-5655 

U.S. Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20210 

Filed electronically to e-ORI@dol.gov 

 Re: RIN 1210-AB32 

The Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (“Colorado PERA”) appreciates the 

opportunity to provide written comments regarding the proposed rule entitled “Definition of the 

Term, ‘Fiduciary’; Conflict of Interest Rule – Retirement Investment Advice” (RIN: 1210-AB32) 

published in the Federal Register on April 20, 2015. 

By way of background, Colorado PERA administers a governmental defined benefit plan and 

governmental 401(k) and 457 plans. Over half a million members and retirees have defined 

benefit accounts and there are 71,000 participant accounts in the 401(k) and 457 plans. While 

Colorado PERA is not governed by the ERISA laws and related Department of Labor 

regulations, we want to express our support for rules that raise the bar for investment advice to 

help individual investors achieve retirement security. 

Colorado PERA account holders have the choice to either leave their accounts with Colorado 

PERA, an investment overseen by fiduciaries, and retire with a monthly benefit or take a lumpsum distribution of their account plus a match and invest it elsewhere. This is one of the biggest 

financial decisions a Colorado PERA member will make in their lifetime. We have received 

regular reports from members who have many years of service credit that get advice from 

financial advisers to give up the security of the monthly benefit and move the lump sum to an 

alternative investment vehicle. While that advice may be consistent with today’s suitability 

standard, it should be subject to a fiduciary standard for the adviser. The proposed rule would 

require the adviser to act as a fiduciary when recommending the alternative vehicle and target 

investments for the funds. The adviser, acting as a fiduciary in that part of the transaction, would 

likely act as a fiduciary as to the whole transaction, including the decision to pull funds from 

Colorado PERA. The same fiduciary standards would apply to advisers to our 401(k) and 457 

plan participants. We believe our participants will make better choices and increase their 

chances for a secure retirement if their adviser is a fiduciary. 

Colorado PERA manages $48 billion dollars on behalf of its membership and supports 

improvements to our capital markets. By requiring fiduciary advice, either to individual investors 

or institutional investors, we believe this will enhance our capital markets and benefit investors. 

 
RIN 1210-AB32

July 21, 2015 

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Colorado PERA acts as a fiduciary for its membership and knows the importance of our 

advisers’ loyalty and care when recommending investments for our large plans. Individuals, 

such as our members and participants, should get the same quality of advice when investing 

their own money in the capital markets. Therefore, we urge the Department to adopt the 

proposed rules that require a fiduciary level of advice by investment advisers. 

Sincerely, 

Gregory W. Smith 

Executive Director