Wall Street and Private Equity are Sweating…………
By Craig Gottwalls
For years, a significant chunk of big-house broker revenue has been generated in the dark. They collected client retainers on the front end while secretly siphoning “steering fees,” shared rebates, and indirect kickbacks from PBMs on the back end.
They served two masters. Only one knew the full score.
Independent advisors? We aren’t worried. We haven’t been taking that revenue. Our hands are clean.
According to the January 29, 2026, report in Modern Healthcare titled “DOL rule targets PBM, benefit consultant fees,” the new Department of Labor rule Department of Labor rule is about to bring “radical transparency” to this exact practice.
The free ride on hidden revenue is over.
If you are an employer fiduciary using a large institutional firm, you now have a powerful new weapon: mandatory disclosure and audit rights. You get to see exactly how much your consultant is being paid by the PBM they recommended to you.
The pipeline is cracked open. The squeeze on the institutional brokerage model is officially on.
