Investing Blog Roundup: Will Brokers Have to Stop Calling Themselves Financial Advisors?

Right now, location is nary regularisation of nan word “financial advisor.” Essentially anybody (insurance agents, brokers, etc.) tin mention to themselves arsenic a financial advisor. Note that this is very different from nan word “investment adviser” which does person a circumstantial regulatory meaning.

Of course, astir group who don’t activity successful nan financial services manufacture person nary hint arsenic to that distinction. And that leads to situations successful which group prosecute nan services of a financial professional, while having important misunderstandings astir nan duties and responsibilities of that professional.

As a consequence of thing that happened earlier this month, we mightiness spot immoderate changes to this situation. Specifically, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) amended their Model Rule: Dishonest aliases Unethical Business Practices of Broker-Dealers and Agents to prohibit “Using a title, purported credential, aliases master nickname containing immoderate version of nan position ‘adviser’ aliases ‘advisor’ without licensure arsenic either immoderate finance advisor aliases an finance advisor representative, unless different permitted by law.”

This doesn’t mean that immoderate laws person changed yet though. Investment advisers are regulated by nan SEC (in nan lawsuit of larger firms) aliases astatine nan authorities level (in nan lawsuit of smaller firms). NASAA is nan relation of those state-level regulators. NASAA does not person immoderate regulatory authority of its own. Rather, it produces exemplary rules specified arsenic nan 1 above, which state-level regulators tin past adopt, adopt pinch changes, aliases diminution to adopt. Usually, astir states adopt nan exemplary norm aliases thing very adjacent to nan exemplary rule. But, we’ll see.

• Should Brokers Be Able To Call Themselves Advisors? NASAA Says No from Tracey Longo

Other Recommended Reading

• Don’t Push It from Jonathan Clements
• A Review of Existing Measures of Retirement Well-being from Anqi Chen and Gal Wettstein
• How Flexible Might You Have to Be successful Retirement? from Jim Dahle
• How to Get nan Most Out of Working pinch Your Financial Planner from Meg Bartelt
• 10 Sources of Emergency Cash, Ranked From Best to Worst from Christine Benz
• Pickleball Club Denied Tax-Exempt Status from John McKinley and Matthew Geiszler
• How to Ease Your Money Anxiety When nan Economy Is Stressing You Out from Diane Harris (NYT)

Thanks for reading!