fiduciary

An investment adviser held to the standard that includes the duty to act in the client’s best interest. The fiduciary standard is a more rigorous standard than the “suitability” standard that applies to brokers. The fiduciary standard also includes duties related to transparency, full disclosure, minimization and disclosure of conflicts of interest, diligence, fairness, loyalty, reasonable compensation and full disclosure of compensation. In addition, an investor should expect a fiduciary to provide up-front disclosure about their qualifications, what services they provide, how they are compensated, possible conflicts of interest and whether they have any record of disciplinary actions against them. All CFP professionals (certified financial planners) are required to adhere to a fiduciary duty when providing financial planning services. As of April 10, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor required that the fiduciary standard apply to retirement savings accounts.