Exploring Advice: What You Need to Know About Good Financial Advice, a Quality Financial Plan and the Role of a Fiduciary

The financial industry is undergoing a revolutionary shift driven by five key factors: the Department of Labor’s new regulations, asset management commoditization, fee compression, an increasingly competitive environment and a more informed consumer. Financial advisors are grappling with how to serve their clients’ best interests, profitably grow their businesses and navigate the evolving landscape.

Author Kevin Knull, CFP® helps define a path to success by exploring three questions:What is good financial advice? What constitutes a quality financial plan? What does it mean to be a fiduciary?

Based on research, qualitative insight from hundreds of conversations with industry advisors, regulators, attorneys, academics and consultants, and data from over 1 million plans, Knull outlines the elements of a quality financial plan, how a quality financial plan is an effective and prudent way to comply with the DOL regulations and how it can help financial advisors differentiate their firms in a challenging environment.

In an unprecedented forum, 39 key thought leaders – including CEOs and executives from wirehouses, regional, independent and retail broker-dealers, global and regional banks, investment advisory firms, consultants, a leading ERISA attorney and even a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner – explore and share unedited insight and best practices for good financial advice, a quality financial plan and the role of a fiduciary.

Readers will be enlightened and challenged as they too find themselves Exploring Advice.