Knut A. Rostad

About the Author

Knut A. Rostad

Knut Rostad is the founder and president of The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard and is the regulatory and compliance officer at Rembert Pendleton Jackson, a registered investment advisory firm in Falls Church, Va.

Previously, he served on the Financial Planning Association Government Relations Committee and “Best Practices” Task Force. The Best Practices Task Force was created by the Financial Planning Association (FPA), to identify the best practices for the financial planning profession under the new Certified Financial Planner (CFP) fiduciary standard. 
 
Rostad earned a BA in Political Science at the University of Vermont and an MBA from the Norwegian School of Management. He is also an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) with the Center for Fiduciary Studies, Pittsburgh.

• Piling On Goldman While Obscuring the Big Truth

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  March 21, 2012

  What's been almost entirely missing from the frenzy is a discussion of why Goldman Sachs, according to Greg Smith, was not violating federal regulations.

• John Bogle: the Most Successful Wall St. Occupier

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  January 24, 2012

  The founder of Vanguard and inventor of index funds’ greatest accomplishment may be yet to come: creation of a “fiduciary society.”

• Why Schapiro’s ‘Business-Model Neutral’ Fiduciary Approach Shouldn’t Be News

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  December 12, 2011

  Despite the ruckus over SEC Chairman Schapiro's comments on a 'business-model neutral' fiduciary standard, it shouldn't be a big deal if SEC rule-making remains true to Dodd-Frank and the plain meaning of its plain language.

• As Academic Research Shows, Disclosure Fails to Protect Investors From Advisors’ Conflicts

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  September 22, 2011

  Just listen to Yale Management Professor Daylian Cain's sobering view: “Conflicts of interest are a cancer on objectivity. Even well-meaning advisors often cannot overcome a conflict and give objective advice."

• Does the Fiduciary Standard Cost Too Much? Not So Fast

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  June 7, 2011

  Washington's search for new ways to pay for government, is a good omen for the fiduciary standard, particularly the arguments that it’s “too costly.”

• SEC Fiduciary Report Is a ‘Bold Blueprint’

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  January 24, 2011

  In SEC rule-making to come, a call to adhere to the Advisers Act standard, as confirmed by the Supreme Court

• What the Uniform Fiduciary Standard Will Not Be

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  October 27, 2010

  SIFMA CEO Tim Ryan says matter-of-factly: the "uniform" fiduciary standard that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is working on will not be the fiduciary standard under the Advisers Act of 1940, because, he opined, we have to have a standard that will "work for everyone."

• Coming Together: The Fiduciary Standard and the NFL

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  July 13, 2010

  Can two standards of conduct be "harmonized" as successfully as were the old AFL and NFL?

• Saratoga--Not Yorktown

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  June 24, 2010

  Agreement between House-Senate conferees on the fiduciary provision was a clear victory--not a final victory--for investors.

• Dodd Reform Bill POV: Knut A. Rostad, Committee for the Fiduciary Standard Chair

  By Knut A. Rostad  |  May 21, 2010

  The bill's absence of any regulation of brokers who act like advisors is stupefying.