Clients will certainly benefit from the universal fiduciary standard, but so will the entire industry. We are in desperate need of a credibility boost, and nothing would give us a better one than imposing upon ourselves a high ethical standard.
As someone who has worked many years at firms subject to the fiduciary standard, I can tell you that it is neither technically difficult, nor costly to comply with. Just imagine that every client who comes through your door is your mother. The rest will come pretty easily.
Scott MacKillop is president of Frontier Asset Management. He began his 34-year career in financial services as a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and has served as president of four investment advisory firms subject to the fiduciary standard. He can be reached at [email protected].