Robert H. Sitkoff, The Fiduciary Obligations of Financial Advisors Under the Law of Agency, 27 J. Fin. Planning, Feb. 2014, at 42.
Abstract: This paper considers how agency fiduciary law might be applied to a financial advisor with discretionary trading authority over a client's account. It (i) surveys the agency problem to which the fiduciary obligation is directed; (ii) examines the legal context by considering how the fiduciary obligation undertakes to mitigate this problem; and (iii) examines several potential applications of agency fiduciary law to financial advisors, including principal trades and the role of informed consent by the client, organizing the discussion under the great fiduciary rubrics of loyalty and care. This paper was sponsored by Federated Investors, Inc. (Winner of the 2014 Richard J. Davis Legal/Regulatory/Ethics Award from the Investment Management Consultants Association)