Institute for the Fiduciary Standard

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  Fiduciary Standard: Assessing SIFMA’s Peculiar Definition

  By Bob Clark, AdvisorOne  |  May 4, 2012

  With SRO for advisors back in play, comparing line-by-line SIFMA’s proposed fiduciary precepts with the 40 Act rules for RIAs.

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  Motion: That Serving a Client’s Best Interests Needn’t Be Complicated

  By Bob Clark, AdvisorOne  |  April 17, 2012

  We can have a minimum set of standards that tell us what the 'best interest of the client' means.

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  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.

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  Protecting the Public: After Fiduciary, Competence Is Next Frontier

  By Michael E. Kitces  |  March 8, 2012

  Notwithstanding some of the successes of the Financial Planning Coalition in pushing forward the fiduciary battle in Washington, requiring all advisors to act in the best interests of their clients is still an uphill fight.

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  Charles Goldman to Advisors: Be Paranoid About Your Business

  By James J. Green, AdvisorOne  |  March 2, 2012

  Former Schwab, Fidelity executive warns SSG advisors at conference to avoid arrogance, focus on forming a vision for their firms and not to overlook power of wirehouses.

• The Client. The Client. The Client.

  By James J. Green, AdvisorOne  |  March 1, 2012

  The last words of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur’s farewell speech at West Point went like this: “…when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, the Corps, the Corps.”

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  At Bogle Event, Former SEC Chairmen Agree on Fiduciary Standard—With Caveats

  By James J. Green, AdvisorOne  |  January 31, 2012

  Harvey Pitt, David Ruder, Arthur Levitt say brokers should have a fiduciary standard: SIFMA’s Ryan agrees.

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  At Bogle Event, Musings on Profit Motive, Fiduciary Responsibility

  By James J. Green, AdvisorOne  |  January 31, 2012

  “I’ve done the best I could to build a better world for investors,” said John Bogle at an event honoring his legacy, with multiple luminaries of the investing and academic world gathered to add their congratulations on his efforts over the years.

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  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.”

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  Fiduciary Duty Rule: A Status Report One Year Later

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  January 20, 2012

  January 21 marks the one-year anniversary of the SEC handing over to Congress its report under Section 913 of Dodd-Frank recommending that brokers adhere to a fiduciary duty.