A fiduciary is one who has to always act in the client’s best interest and is expected to uphold this standard at all points in time. The fiduciary standard brings with it a lot of compliance costs, and if the rules are not complied with, there are heavy penalties in store for those who provide financial advice. Compliance also means a radical change to the business model for the majority of them.
The arguments for and against the fiduciary standard are also a part of the US presidential campaign. President Barack Obama remarked that he would use his veto power to implement the Department of Labour fiduciary standard, whereas a Donald Trump adviser promises to repeal the very same thing (http://bit.ly/2el36ec).
