Are We a Fiduciary?

Lately, there has been an uptick in advertisements all across the media spectrum with advisors/actors stating how you can trust them, simply because they “follow a fiduciary standard.

What does that mean (or at least is supposed to mean)?

Registered Investment Advisory firms and their advisors are regulated by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (the S.E.C.) and have a legal and ethical obligation to act in your best interests while investing, managing, and safeguarding your assets. A fiduciary is held to a higher ethical and legal standard as put forward by the S.E.C. Under federal and state law, “Investment Advisors” and “Investment Advisor Representatives” (IARs) are fiduciaries who owe their advisory clients undivided loyalty.

When Viceroy Wealth Counsel chose to partner with LPL Financial back in 2004, we wanted to align ourselves with a Registered Investment Advisor that had a long history of top-tier compliance, innovation, research, technology, and a focus on putting the client first.   

Both the LPL IARs associated with Viceroy Wealth Counsel and LPL Financial have a fiduciary relationship to our clients.

We are fiduciaries.

This means we must fulfill higher standards when providing advisory services, including an obligation to :

• Act in the client's best interest and place client interests ahead of our own.
• Make appropriate recommendations consistent with a client's investment objectives and goals.
• Treat advisory clients fairly.
• Disclose any material conflicts of interests to clients.
• Disclose material facts.

Breach of this fiduciary duty is prohibited by federal and state law, and may lead to administrative, civil or criminal action. Traditional stockbrokers and insurance agents, for example, are not held to this same higher standard, even if they call themselves “financial advisors”, “financial planners”, or use other popular titles. You may think you’re working with someone legally obligated to put your interests first, and in reality, that may not be the case.  

Having successfully navigated our clients investments and wealth for over 28 years now, through the Dot-Com Bubble, the Great Recession and Covid-19, we have always put our clients interest first.

Otherwise, we would not have lasted this long.

Thank you for reading.

Wealth….planned well. Life….lived well. 

Viceroy Wealth Counsel