June 2, 2017
As a fee-only financial advisor and a fiduciary, people expect me to be in favor of the DOL rule, but I am not. I think it's a watered-down version, that allows everyone to CALL themselves a fiduciary, whether they truly operate as a fiduciary or not. In my experience, clients do not read the fine print. Having an exception that requires disclosure is insufficient. I agree that, like in other countries, the "sale" of financial products should be banned entirely. Until we do that, however, at least let people be educated about the meaning of the word "fiduciary" so that people can choose to work with a fiduciary or not. Don't allow people who are selling products to use the word.