5 Ways To Tell If You Are A Good Fiduciary

1. You look past fees when making recommendations.
There are so many considerations when delivering investment advice that you choose to look past the fees and provide individualized advice driven by your client’s preferences, their financial needs, and their assets.

2. You minimize conflicts of interest.
You separate your lines of business or internal incentive structures so that your activities around client service and fee generation are as independent as possible.

3. You appreciate your compliance officer.
You may not always be best friends. In fact, your warmth likely wanes during any presentation of audit findings. However, you fully appreciate and respect their role in the industry. You know deep down that this person is a key asset to your firm’s longevity.

4. Your clients come first.
Any time someone approaches you with a new investment or business strategy to consider, the first place your thoughts go…are inside the mind and heart of your clients. What benefit does this bring to her? How will this affect him?

5. You bring the best of all options to your clients.
Your eyes are peeled for new investment, portfolio structure, and technology options to keep driving your definition of best in class higher and higher. You strive to continuously improve your practice as new resources become available.

If you would like to learn how to become a better fiduciary, contact Tolerisk today.

Please note: This article is about the essence of a fiduciary as an identity held by top investment advisors rather than the legal classification. There are of course legal criteria to determine fiduciary duty in a given investment advisor role and these have expanded as a result of the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule published on April 6, 2016.