Differing definitions only add to the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the debate over the Fiduciary Rule. Regulators need to put forward a unified definition of the fiduciary duty so that investors and advisors can have a fully informed debate on the matter.
Recent revelations about the illegalities of information flows at expert networks and hedge funds like SAC Capital signal, I hope, a long overdue decline in amoral activities that Wall Street insiders have exploited for decades to score outsized riches while the average investor is often left holding the bag.
In case you needed proof beyond the Global Research Settlement that Wall Street research cannot be trusted, Morgan Stanley delivers by admitting "inadequately disclosing conflicts of interest on the part of its research analysts."
Most of the time when I meet with investors (large and small) and explain what I do and New Constructs does, they are astonished about what I explain as the reality of the investing world. They always ask: "What are regulators doing?"..."How can they allow these things to go on?"
The answers to that question are: