Allan Roth has said that he has been appalled at what he has seen Advisors do who are supposed to be fiduciaries. Seems to me that fiduciary status is most often a starting point and not an ending point when selecting an Advisor, further due diligence is needed beyond that. Those who work for a firm that has Registered Investment Advisor status are fiduciaries, those who work for Broker-Dealers are subject to a lesser suitability standard. There are also dual status advisors who have both RIA and Broker-Dealer affiliations. There are good folks who work for Broker-Dealers and who have only securities and perhaps insurance licenses but I would say that credentials like Certified Financial Planner are a big plus. Fiduciary status is pretty important but it isn't an ironclad guarantee that the Advisor will always act in your best interest. What I am trying to say is that you need to look beyond a person's credentials as well, for example look at their FINRA record to see if there are disciplinary actions against them. As others have said above, it also helps to know how they are compensated.
Statistics: Posted by nedsaid — Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:54 pm — Replies 4 — Views 224