Tag Archives: Regulation of Financial Planners

Huffington Post: There Is a Future of Finance (And It’s Called Fiduciary Capitalism)

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John D. Rogers, President and CEO of the CFA Institute discusses how the financial industry and investors would benefit if “an era of fiduciary capitalism emerges.”

Excerpt: Earlier this week, over 1,800 investment professionals took time out to visit Seattle for CFA Institute’s 67th Annual Conference. This was an important opportunity to join an initiative that is about the future of finance and shaping an industry that better serves society. Education has a crucial role to play in helping to restore to financial intermediaries a greater sense of social purpose, and that’s why CFA Institute and other professional organizations exist. A new mindset, one we could call fiduciary capitalism, is worth considering. The leaders here will likely include institutional investors – pension funds, endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds – as well as early adopters in the fund management industry. Based on a duty of care and loyalty and the obligation to place the needs of their beneficiaries above all other considerations, these investors share an agenda.

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U.S. News & World Report: When Salespeople Call Themselves Advisors

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Jim Lardner of Americans for Financial Reform discusses the challenges investors face when working with advisors who do not have investors’ best interests in mind, often recommending investments that will generate more money for themselves.

Excerpt: Saving for retirement is extra-hard these days, and not just because wages are low and millions of Americans are still struggling to make up for ground lost after the 2008 financial crisis. All too often, the difficulty is compounded by gaps in the rules for the financial professionals who provide retirement-planning advice.

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MarketWatch: Is your adviser working in your best interests?

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Lisa Hay, CPA, president and founder of Ascend Financial, LLC, shares the benefits of fiduciary financial advice and the most accurate way to tell if the adviser you are considering is acting in your best interest.

Excerpt: Many consumers are beginning to realize the benefit of fee-only fiduciary financial advice, but they don’t know how to tell if the adviser they are considering is actually fee-only. If you are smart enough to realize that working with a fiduciary is very important, and that how your adviser is compensated matters, read on.

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Think Advisor: Never-Examined Advisors Top SEC’s 2014 Exam Priorities List

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Melanie Waddell of Think Advisor reports on the SEC’s examination priorities for 2014, including advisors who have never been examined.

Excerpt: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced its examination priorities for 2014, which include advisors who have never been examined, including new private fund advisors; wrap fee programs; quantitative trading models; and payments by advisors and funds to entities that distribute mutual funds.

As for broker-dealers, the securities regulator says it will zero in on sales practices and fraud, issues related to the fixed income market, and trading issues, including compliance with the new market access rule.

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The Wall Street Journal: Voices: John Taft, on the State of the Financial Industry Post-Crisis

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John Taft of WSJ’s Wealth Adviser discusses fundamental reform issues that remain, particularly when it comes to the ethics and culture of the financial industry, including the fiduciary standard of care.

Excerpt: There are a lot of milestone dates used to mark the failure of the financial system. But the milestone that most affected my clients was the breaking of the buck of the Reserve Primary Fund, the largest money-market fund, on Sept. 16, 2008.

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