Fiduciary Follies

Those who tend toward the conservative side of the political spectrum are often forced to defend themselves against charges that they are “against” health care because they don’t approve of government’s involvement. Ditto with education; they don’t like a centralized bureaucracy in Washington that they say takes attention and resources away from the classroom. There’s something to be said for their defense, and recent responses to the fiduciary question indicate that on this issue, at least, independent broker-dealers lean decidedly right.

It’s not that they’re against a fiduciary standard (what responsible advisor in their right mind would?), it’s that the Department of Labor’s definition and requirements will add an unsustainable cost burden to what the vast majority of advisors already do.

“We asked the reps that attended our national conference if they already consider themselves to act according to a fiduciary standard,” Cambridge Investment Research CEO Eric Schwartz said at the 2013 Broker-Dealers of the Year roundtable discussion in Chicago. “Of the 900 people in the room, 100% of the hands went up.”