March 27, 2013
As a Chartered Financial Analyst, a sell side analyst for 12 years and a portfolio manager for the past 24 years, I wholeheartedly endorse the position of the CFA Institute on the matter of establishing a single set of standards and fiduciary obligation for anyone providing investment advice to retail clients, be they broker-dealers, financial planners, wealth managers or portfolio managers. Retail clients tend not to know the difference between these different roles and titles, but likely assume that all are abiding by the same high set of standards.