If a financial advisor is a fiduciary, do they have a certificate or something that says that? nt

[raccoon]

[el_bryanto]

1. It depends in what sense you are using the term fudiciary

But banks are generally quite regulated when acting as normal banks; it is when they are acting as investment banks that things get more complicated.

Bryant

[geek tragedy]

2. fiduciary is a duty on their part, not a special status, unless there's

something about that industry I'm unaware of.

[marybourg]

3. Most "financial advisors" do not have

a fiduciary duty to their customers. They are sales people. Only a narrow slice of the "financial advisor" universe have fiduciary duty. Do some google research on the topic. No one can manage your money as well as you can! Learn! Read!

[FBaggins]

4. You can ask to see their Form ADV

If they are a Registered Investment Advisor (who are all required to act as fiduciaries), they should have this form and provide it upon request.

Not everyone with such a form is a Fiduciary, but you should be able to tell by what's on the form (manner of compensation, conflicts of interest, etc.)

FYI - This should change shortly. While the DOL Fiduciary rule is on hold, I suspect that it will eventually be implemented for all financial advisors fairly soon. The "over-regulation" in this case was that the new rule applied too broadly. Your bank teller could have been impacted if you brought your $10,000 IRA in and opened a CD.