Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Disclosure

  • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Archives
    • Dick Young’s Safe America
    • The Final Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
    • Dick Young’s Research Key: Anecdotal Evidence Gathering
    • Crisis at Vanguard
  • Investment Analysis
    • Bonds
    • Currencies and Gold
    • Dividend Investing
    • ETFs & Funds
    • Investment Strategy
    • Retirement Investing
    • Stocks
    • The Efficient Frontier
  • Investment Counsel
  • Dynamic Maximizers®
  • Retirement Compounders®
  • Free Email Signup

A Step in the Right Direction for Protecting Investors

December 19, 2019 By E.J. Smith

By Natali_ Mis @ Shutterstock.com

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is finally taking measures to clean up the error-filled reporting on its website that classifies many troubled financial advisors as having “clean” records.

The CFP has been relying on these advisors to self-report any bad behavior, and with predictable results that has failed. Many of the advisors, who are mostly brokers and insurance agents, are regulated by FINRA as well. FINRA has disclosed their bad behavior, but CFP has missed the mark. That might finally change.

Jason Zweig and Andrea Fuller report at The Wall Street Journal:

The CFP Board had been relying solely on planners to self-report red flags in their records when they renewed their certification annually. The Journal’s investigation found that many such red flags were publicly disclosed on a website run by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a watchdog organization funded by the brokerage industry—but not in the CFP Board’s LetsMakeAPlan.org directory.

Separately, the Journal found that the CFP Board reviewed far fewer planners for potential misconduct in recent years than it had a decade ago, with investigations falling by three-quarters even as the number of CFPs rose by almost one-third. The CFP Board called that interpretation “inaccurate” and “not comparable.”

In July, the CFP Board appointed a task force, which it described as independent, to review its enforcement and disclosure procedures. The task force was headed by Denise Voigt Crawford, a former Texas state securities commissioner who also serves on the board of directors of the CFP Board.

The task force submitted its report to the group’s board of directors on Nov. 1. It found that the failings identified by the Journal’s investigation resulted from “systemic, longstanding, governance-level weaknesses” at the CFP Board and warned that “these weaknesses will inevitably result in a recurrence of the kind of events reported by the Journal unless the Board of Directors acts to implement reforms.”

The report recommended a series of steps including a “substantial increase” in spending on investigations, hiring an enforcement chief with regulatory experience, expanding staff, upgrading technology, analyzing data more effectively and eliminating private disciplinary actions so all sanctions would be public.

Stronger protections for investors are necessary. Many of the brokers and agents calling themselves “financial advisors” have no obligation under the law to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own. That leads to a lot of bad behavior.

If you are seeking a relationship with a professional advisor, make sure you hire someone who is an investment advisor, bound with a fiduciary duty to put your interests ahead of their own. Make sure they understand the Prudent Man Rule and want you to achieve Your Retirement Life.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. 

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

You Might Also Like:

  • Your First Step Toward Investment Success
  • Steam Rolled
  • Why Are Investors Buying a Hedge Fund Strategy that Isn’t Working?
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com
Latest posts by E.J. Smith (see all)
  • Even Without Food and Gas, Inflation is Soaring - July 1, 2022
  • Time to Save, Troubles Dining Out, and Intelligence on Yellowstone - June 30, 2022
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again - June 29, 2022

Search Young Research

Most Popular

  • Here’s Why You Need a 15-Year Retirement Investment Plan
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All?
  • Are Google, Amazon, and Microsoft About to Crash This Specialized Real Estate Market?
  • What Happens to Your Passwords When You Die?
  • Is the Great Job Boom Over?
  • Regulators' Bungled Attempts to Cut Emissions Drove Oil Prices Higher
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again
  • The Power of a Compound Interest Table
  • Your Survival Guy: Clearing the Decks, Buying a Boat, Seeing the World and More
  • Vanguard Wellesley (VWINX) vs. Wellington (VWELX): Which Fund is Best?

Don’t Miss

Default Risk Among the Many Concerns with Annuities

Risk and Reward: An Efficient Frontier

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

Could this Be the Vanguard GNMA Winning Edge?

Cryptocosm and Life After Google

Warning: Avoid Mutual Fund Year End Distributions

Is Gold a Good Long-term Investment?

How to Invest in Gold

Vanguard Wellington (VWELX): The Original Balanced Fund

What is the Best Gold ETF for Investing and Trading?

Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock: The Only True Dividend King

The Dividend King of the North

You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life

RSS The Latest at Richardcyoung.com

  • For Investors Who Want to Stop Worrying About a Market Crash
  • Breaking News: House Election Update
  • WATCH: New York Governor Melts Down When Asked for Facts
  • Florida Is a Refresher Course in American Greatness
  • Should You Believe Ms. Hutchinson?
  • Biden’s Economy Even Weaker than Thought
  • A Cashless Society Is A Debacle for Americans
  • Time to Save, Troubles Dining Out, and Intelligence on Yellowstone
  • Democrats Running AWAY from Biden on the Campaign Trail
  • Touch Sensitive Robots Could Revolutionize Manufacturing

About Us

  • About Young Research
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Our Partners

  • Richard C. Young & Co.
  • Richardcyoung.com

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions

 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.