July 29, 2010
I believe anyone offering investment advise and promoting themselves as a financial advisor should be held legally to a high fiduciary standard.
Being able to operate under a lesser stand offers an advisor the opportunity to not always act in a customer's interest without that customer knowing it. A lower suitability standard is a license to act in the advisor's best interest or his firm's best interest. The current suitability standard is one of the reasons for the recent financial crisis.