Fiduciary Links: Be ahead of the curve

The FPA Association held a Twitter Live event from their 2009 Conference this week that featured thought leaders in the industry answering the question "What is the #1 thing advisors should have on their mind for the coming year?"  Financial regulatory reform, practice management, compensation issues, and fiduciary duties were prominent in their comments.

Our own CEO Blaine Aikin offered this thought, "Soon, every advisory relationship will need to be treated as a fiduciary relationship...made necessary either through new legislation and regulation or because the market will demand it." 

We've been covering extensively in our Regulatory Update posts how regulatory reform is moving steadily towards the fiduciary standard. We've also mentioned previously the idea that market demand will move most advisors to the fiduciary standard, as both the Broker's World blog and Financial Adviser blog have suggested. Advisors who aren't preparing for this change are already falling behind, both in terms of compliance and in the opportunity to demonstrate market leadership.

Now, more links!

In the news/commentary:

• Call a spade a spade and a salesperson a salesperson
• SIFMA and FINRA had their say on the fiduciary standard
• TheHouse Financial Services Committe held hearings on a unified standard
• FINRA endorsed an end to mandatory arbitration agreements
• The insurance industry opposes the fiduciary standard as seen in the Investor Protection Act draft

From the organizations/associations/government/academia:

• The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard unveiled their website
• So did the Financial Planning Coalition
• Blaine's latest Fiduciary Corner column is about the Committee
• The FPA's advocacy efforts are also proving effective

From the blogs:

• Why should investors care if their adviser is a fiduciary?
• The process of monitoring investment holdings

Have a link we missed? Leave them in the comments section or email us at blog@fi360.com. For more of the best links during the week, make sure you follow us on Twitter.