Is your financial advisor acting as a fiduciary and working in your best interest?
In the world of finance, we often hear the term “Fiduciary”, which has gained popularity in the news recently as the regulatory environment continues to shift and evolve. What exactly is a Fiduciary and why might someone choose to work with an independent financial advisor that holds themselves to a fiduciary standard? When a financial advisor is acting as a fiduciary, they are ethically and legally required to act in their client’s best interest, ensuring they give objective advice and minimize conflicts of interest. Any financial advisor registered with the SEC is legally required to abide by a fiduciary standard when engaging in an advisory relationship with a client. This means the advisor must put their client's interests ahead of their own and disclose all conflicts of interest. You can search your financial advisor to see if they are a registered investment advisor representative (IAR) on the SEC's website, Check Out Your Investment Professional | Investor.gov. If an advisor is only registered as a Registered Broker, they are not working in an advisory capacity and therefore not necessarily required to abide by a fiduciary standard.
At True Alpha Wealth Management, four of our advisors are Certified Financial Fiduciaries® (CF2®) and two of our advisors are Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) professionals. Both CF2® and CFP® professionals are required and ethically bound to adhere to a fiduciary standard. We are a fee-based firm and utilize an open architecture platform that enables us to meet our client’s goals through a broad platform of investment options.
We are also independent financial advisors. We are not employed by any bank, insurance company, brokerage, or other financial institution. As such, we have no allegiance to any other entity and are free to offer unbiased advice that puts our client’s interests first. We work for and are paid by our clients. Our loyalty is to the client. As independent advisors, we can choose the firms we want to partner with for our business and have a large array of investment products available. Our partners work for us; we don’t work for them.
Non – independent advisors, on the other hand, work for and are paid by their firms. Their loyalty is to the firm that pays them. These advisors usually have limited investment options and will likely encourage you to buy specific products, presumably from their employer or partner.
Regardless of any regulatory body, we always work to represent you. We follow a process to ensure the financial advice we provide is objective and unbiased. Your unique needs are our primary focus.
If you would like a free consultation of your investment portfolio, please give us a call! We are here to help: 419-830-7045.
***The fiduciary standard of care applies to investment advisory services and includes duty of care for duration of advisory-client relationship. Other standards may apply in certain circumstances. Fiduciary standards or fiduciary duties do not apply, for example, when offering insurance or brokerage products/services. Please see advisor's Client Relationship Summary (form CRS) for scope and terms of relationship.