A bill of rights for investors, proposed by the nonprofit Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, has some powerful friends.
Industry heavyweights such as Vanguard founder John Bogle and Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary at the Department of Labor, have thrown their support behind an initiative to help clients to identify, screen and evaluate prospective brokers.
The institute's proposal is "fairly specific about what investors expect from an advisor," says Knut Rostad, the institute's president.
The institute will announce the 10-point declaration at a half-day conference in Philadelphia on May 24 that will include Bogle and Borzi. It is one element of the institute's new Campaign for Investors that is scheduled to launch next week.
The campaign, geared toward both investors and advisors, has been designed to coincide with the release of the Labor Department's new fiduciary rule last month.
It "will provide tools and resources to educate investors on their rights, as well as provide advisors with the guidance they need to best meet their client’s interests and remain essential in an increasingly competitive industry," according to a release.
Bogle and Borzi are among the scheduled speakers at the conference, which can be viewed live on the Institute’s YouTube page. Others include Skip Schweiss, head of TD Ameritrade’s Institutional Retirement Plan Services platform, and fiduciary advocate Ron Rhoades, head of the financial planning program at Western Kentucky University.
