Fiduciary survey reveals support for high fiduciary standard

April 07, 2015

For a fourth year in a row, fi360 and Fiduciary Path have conducted a survey of advisors to gauges opinions on the fiduciary standard and their understanding of what the fiduciary standard means now, and as they work with investors in the future. It included questions about investor knowledge; costs, availability and access to advice; differentiating types of advisors and fiduciary versus non-fiduciary roles, titles, separating advice from product sales; disclosure, conflicts of interest; compensation models and trends, recruiting payments, demographics and more, to track fiduciary trends in the industry.

You can download the full survey report here. 

Key findings from the report include: 

  • 74% of survey participants agree in concept with the Labor Department’s plan to propose a rule that would expand the number of intermediaries who are considered fiduciaries under ERISA.
  • 91% say yes, the fiduciary standard should apply to advice to investors on rollovers from 401(k) accounts to IRA accounts. That’s up from 79% in 2013.
  • Nearly 82%, up from 72% in 2013, say the same fiduciary standard that applies to 401(k) accounts should also apply to advice on IRA accounts.

A press release is also available.