At 91%, the overwhelming majority of retail investors support a fiduciary standard for all financial advisers, according to a survey of 1,319 investors by Infogroup/ORC.
The survey indicates that there is some surprise among investors — 76% of them, to be exact — that their financial advisers aren't, strictly speaking, acting in their best interests now as fiduciaries.
Some 97% of investors agree with the statement (and 85% strongly agree) that "when you receive investment advice from a financial professional, the person providing the advice should put your interests ahead of theirs and should have to tell you up front about any fees or commissions they earn and any conflicts of interest that potentially could influence that advice."
Rather than carve out exceptions for certain types of investment salespeople, as groups representing broker-dealers tend to argue for, 96% of investors say everyone selling investments, including insurance agents selling annuities, should be held to a fiduciary standard.
