◾Registered investment advisers (RIAs) and representatives thereof do owe a fiduciary duty to clients.
For instance, many RIAs charge in excess of 1% per year to do nothing but passive portfolio management. At the same time, at Vanguard, you can get similar portfolio management, plus a basic financial plan, plus access to a CFP for 0.3% per year. The idea that the advisor charging more than three times as much for a lower level of service is somehow putting his/her clients’ interest first is laughable, given that there is such an obviously-better option for the investor. And yet, industry regulators have no problem with this — it is apparently not considered a breach of fiduciary duty.
http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/
