Dejan Ilijevski was quoted in this GoBankingRates article about the attributes that make an advisor a fiduciary, “What is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor?”.
If you are seeking an advisor, consider the differences between brokers-dealers and fiduciary advisors. Fiduciary advisors must work only in your best interest. This is in stark contrast to the “suitability” standard by which most broker-dealers operate. “Suitability” is broad and open to interpretation. Proving harm by your broker who sold you a financial product that s/he considered “suitable” for your goals (rather than suitable for their bottom line) is difficult. Unfortunately, the industry as a whole has been slow to move toward a fiduciary standard of care in which all licensed financial professionals legally must give advice that is in their clients’ best interest only. In fact, the industry sometimes seems to be moving backward. Only recently, the SEC passed Reg BI, which permits brokers to deliver financial advice if it’s incidental to their current working relationship with clients. This means that in addition to selling financial products under the “suitability” standard, broker-dealers can now provide and charge for advice under these lower standards as well, which goes against the investor protections under the Dodd-Frank act. There are several lawsuits by State’s Attorney Generals claiming that the SEC must vacate this rule. XY Planning Network, a partner of Sabela Capital Markets, is also suing the SEC.
To learn more about what makes an advisor a fiduciary, check out the GoBankingRates article. You can also read about the fiduciary standards here, https://www.sabelagroup.com/fiduciary-best-practices/.